0Wfnfi 


FEB  271907     * 

A,       * — r»*a-    ■      .A* 


Division       b  % 
Section 


PRESBYTERIAN 
BROTHERHOOD 


REPORT  OF   THE    FIRST  CONVENTION 

HELD      AT      INDIANAPOLIS 

NOVEMBER     THIRTEENTH 

TO      FIFTEENTH 

NINETEEN-SIX 


PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BOARD  OF   PUBLICATION 

1907 


Copyright,  1907 

By  the  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  and  Sabbath 

School  Work 


Publtited  February,  1907 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.    Introduction.    John   Clark  Hill,  D.D.     ...      5 
II.    Opening    Exercises.    Henry   S.    Osborne,    pre- 
siding       19 

Devotional  Hour.    John  E.  Bushnell,  D.D.    19 

III.  What  the  Presbyterian  Church  Stands  For. 

Wm.  H.  Roberts,  D.D.,  LL.  D 32 

IV.  The  Boy  and  the  Church.    Patterson  DuBois.    50 
V.    The  Church  and  the  Man.     Charles  S.  Holt.    66 

VI.    Vice-President  Fairbanks'  Address   ....     86 
VII.    The   Genesis   of   the   Presbyterian    Brother- 
hood.    The  Rev.  R.  R.  Bigger,  Ph.  D.     .     .     89 
VIII.    Greetings     from     Fraternal     Organizations. 

John  Clark  Hill,  D.D.,  presiding     ....     92 
i.     The   Brotherhood   of   Andrew   and    Philip. 

Rev.  W.  H.  Pheley,    Ph.   D.,   Secretary.     .      92 

2.  The    Brotherhood   of    St.    Andrew   of    the 

P.  E.  Church.     John  Henry  Smale  ...      95 

3.  The    United    Presbyterian    Men's    League. 

Judge    Mackenzie    Cleland 100 

IX.    The  Conference  on  Practical  Work.     .     .     . 

President  C.  W .  Dabney,  LL.  D.,  presiding     .   104 
Messrs.     Vose,     Sutherland,     Hall,     Dozuling, 
and  Chambers. 
X.    Address  of  the  Hon.  William  Jennings  Bryan.  115 
XI.    Addresses  and  Conference.     H.  C.  Gara,  pre- 
siding      142 

Brotherhood:     Its  Need  in  the  Church. 
The   Rev.    Paul    C.    Martin 142 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XII.    Brotherhood:      Its      Development      in      the 

Church.     The  Rev.  Joseph  E.  McAfee     .     .     .160 

XIII.  Brotherhood:    Its  Responsibilities. 

Charles    IV.    Gordon,    D.D 171 

XIV.  The     Evangelization     of     our     Countrymen. 

/.  W.  Chapman,  D.D 192 

XV.    The  Men  of  our  Church  and  Their  Minis- 
ter.   /.  Ross  Stevenson,  D.D 207 

XVI.    The  Men  of  our  Church  and  the  Labor  In- 
terests.     The   Rev.    Charles   Stelzle     .     .     .  217 
XVII.    The  Men  of  our  Church  and  the  Spiritual 

Life.     Charles  G.  Trumbull 228 

XVIII.    The  Men  of  our  Church  and  Civil  Affairs. 

Ira  Landrith,  D.D.,  LL.  D 236 

XIX.    The  Men  of  our  Church  and   Bible   Study. 

W.  W.  White,  D.D 246 

XX.    Evangelization  of  the  World. 

Robert  E.  Speer        255 

THE  APPENDIX 

I.    Minutes  of  the  Convention      .     .     .  267 
II.    The  Attendance  at  the  Convention.  270 

III.  Analysis  of  the  Members  of  the  Con- 

vention, by  Occupation     .     .     .     .270 

IV.  The   Convention    Button      .     .     .     .281 
V.    The  Assembly's  Committee  on  Men's 

Societies 282 

VI.    Sample    Constitutions 283 


The   Presbyterian  Brotherhood 
I 

INTRODUCTION 

BY   JOHN    CLARK   HILL,    D.D. 

This  book  needs  no  introduction  except  some 
historical  notes.  It  is  a  book  of  practical 
things.  It  will  appeal  to  Christian  men  of  all 
denominations,  but,  of  course,  particularly  to 
Presbyterians.  It  is  not  a  book  of  cast-iron 
models,  or  hard  and  fast  rules.  It  is  exactly  in 
line  with  the  policy  that  has  directed  the 
Brotherhood  movement  from  the  beginning. 

The  controlling  aim  has  been  to  enlist  men 
in  " works  of  Christian  usefulness,"  by  help- 
ing them  to  recognize  the  things  they  have  left 
undone !  The  movement  is  designed  to  rehabil- 
itate the  neglected  things,  to  magnify  the  in- 
significant, to  glorify  the  commonplace  in 
Christian  service.  It  is  confidently  believed 
that  the  Brotherhood  will  actually  accomplish 
much  towards  this  end. 

The  first  definite  action  looking  to  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Brotherhood  was  taken  in  the 

5 


O  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

Presbytery  of  Mahoning.  The  Rev.  Eobert  R. 
Bigger,  Ph.  D.,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Massillon,  Ohio,  drafted  an  overture 
which  was  adopted  by  the  presbytery  at  the 
fall  meeting,  1894,  and  sent  to  the  synod,  with 
a  request  that  it  be  adopted  and  transmitted 
to  the  General  Assembly,  in  the  following 
terms : — 

"The  Synod  of  Ohio  respectfully  overtures 
the  One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America  to  appoint  a  special 
committee,  which  shall  make  full  investigation 
of  the  question  of  men's  societies,  and  report 
to  the  One  Hundred  and  Eighteenth  General 
Assembly,  with  the  view  to  the  formation  of  a 
men 's  order,  or  Brotherhood,  within  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  which  shall  be  distinctively 
Presbyterian  in  name  and  purpose,  and  pro- 
viding for  presbyterial,  synodical,  and  national 
conventions,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
Presbyterian  men  together  in  the  interests  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  in  the  interest 
of  winning  men  to  Christ' ' 

A  committee  of  five  was  appointed  and  in- 
structed "to  report  as  desired,"  and  the  Stated 
Clerk  was  "instructed  to  place  at  its  disposal 
such  information  as  comes  to  his  office  in  the 
regular  reports  of  the  presbyteries." 

The  following  were  appointed  as  the  commit- 
tee :  The  Rev.  John  Clark  Hill,  D.D.,  Spring- 
field, Ohio ;  the  Rev.  John  Balcom  Shaw,  D.D., 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  < 

Chicago;  the  Eev.  S.  Edward  Young,  D.D., 
Pittsburg,  Pa. ;  Mr.  William  T.  Ellis,  Wyncote, 
Pa.;  Mr.  Andrew  Stevenson,  Chicago. 

The  report  presented  by  this  committee  to 
the  Assembly  of  1906,  gave  a  brief  historical 
sketch  of  the  movements  among  the  churches 
aiming  at  the  organization  of  men  for  Christian 
service,  from  which  the  following  data  are 
taken :  — 

The  present  movement  for  the  organization 
of  men's  societies  for  Christian  work  in  con- 
nection with  the  local  churches  began  about  fif- 
teen years  ago.  It  was  made  the  subject  of  a 
notable  paper  read  at  the  Congress  of  Eeligions' 
that  was  held  auxiliary  to  the  World's  Fair 
in  Chicago  in  1893.  This  gave  great  impetus 
to  the  movement  in  nearly  all  evangelical  de- 
nominations. Many  of  our  pastors  welcomed 
this  impetus,  organized  men's  clubs  or  leagues, 
most  of  which  aimed  specially  at  increasing  the 
effectiveness  of  the  Sunday  evening  services. 
The  existence  of  these  organizations  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  by 
the  Narrative  on  the  State  of  Eeligion  in  1895 
in  the  following  terms:  "The  call  is  made  for 
the  organization  of  men.  The  men  of  our 
church,  as  a  class,  are  falling  to  the  rear  of  the 
great  host  of  God  in  both  service  and  benevo- 
lence. This  occurs  largely  because  they  are  not 
organized  into  associations  as  the  women  are. 
To  evangelize  men,  to  pray  and  labor  for  their 
salvation,  is  the  need  of  the  hour,  second  to  no 


8  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

other  call  in  the  sphere  of  Christian  work." 
This  was  a  notable  utterance,  but  the  Assembly 
did  nothing  definite  to  promote  the  needed  or- 
ganization. 

Six  years  later,  in  1901,  the  Narrative  said: 
"The  reports  of  the  efforts  in  organizing  the 
men  of  the  church  into  action  present  no  great 
encouragement.  In  quite  a  large  number  of 
cases  the  experiment  is  tried,  but  whatever  it 
may  accomplish  in  outward  appearances  for 
the  local  church,  it  has  accomplished  very  little 
for  the  Boards  of  the  church.  A  great  prob- 
lem is  to  get  very  generally  from  men,  for  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  the  plan,  push,  perseverance, 
enterprise,  and  energy  which  business  monopo- 
lizes. If  the  men  in  the  churches  were  as  are 
the  women,  the  kingdom  would  come  in  leaps 
and  bounds." 

In  1902  the  Narrative  states  that  "a  few 
men's  societies  have  their  bond  in  the  love  of 
missions,  and  some  support  their  own  mission- 
aries in  home  and  foreign  lands.  Your  com- 
mittee thinks  that  herein  is  a  splendid  oppor- 
tunity for  our  church,  and  through  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  would  call  on  the  men  of  the 
church  for  organized  work  along  distinctly 
spiritual  and  missionary  lines." 

In  1903  the  Narrative  declares  that  "the 
societies  organized  for  men  are  comparatively 
few,  and  for  the  most  part  of  a  social  nature. 
A  few  societies  are  reported  which  are  dis- 
tinctly spiritual,  such  as  the  Brotherhood  of 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  9 

Andrew  and  Philip.  It  is  a  question  of  ear- 
nest consideration  of  each  pastor  whether  or  not 
this  matter  is  receiving  the  attention  which  it 
deserves,  and  whether  or  not  our  young  men 
are  finding  the  spiritual  culture  essential  to 
their  growth,  and  are  being  marshaled  and 
trained  for  Christian  service  as  they  should  be. 
Here  is  a  field  that,  in  too  many  instances,  is 
proving  but  fallow  ground. ' ' 

In  1904  the  statement  is  made:  "Very  few 
societies  exist  for  our  men,  but  where  they  have 
been  organized  and  faithfully  maintained,  such 
encouraging  results  have  attended  their  work 
that  your  committee  is  hopeful  that  ensuing 
years  may  see  a  general  movement  toward  such 
organization  throughout  our  church  and  es- 
pecially in  the  cities. ' ' 

The  Questionaike. — In  order  to  get  at  more 
definite  detail  as  to  the  character  and  success 
of  the  existing  societies,  the  committee  sent  out 
a  Questionaire  containing  the  following  ques- 
tions : 

1.  Is  there  now,  or  has  there  been,  a  men's 
society  of  any  kind  connected  with  your  church? 

2.  Of  what  nature?    What  objects? 

3.  Success  or  failure? 

4.  Causes:  a.  Success. 

b.  Failure. 

5.  Do  you  feel  the  need  of  organized  work 
among  your  men? 

6.  On  what  lines? 

7.  What  do  you  believe  to  be  the  attitude  of 


10  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

the  men  of  your  congregation  towards  such  an 
organization  as  is  outlined  in  the  overture  to 
the  General  Assembly? 

8.  What  do  you  think  is  the  attitude  of  min- 
isters and  laymen  in  other  congregations? 

9.  What  is  your  personal  attitude  towards 
the  proposed  Brotherhood? 

10.  What  name  would  you  propose  for  it? 

11.  What  suggestions  have  you  to  make  to 
the  committee  as  to  a  plan  of  organization? 

The  replies  demonstrated  the  fact  that  there 
was  virtual  unanimity  on  the  part  of  pastors, 
elders,  and  laymen  as  to  the  need  of  organiz- 
ing in  accord  with  the  Ohio  Overture. 

Types  of  Societies. — The  investigation  of  the 
committee  covered  the  purposes  and  activities 
of  the  existing  societies.  These  may  be 
grouped  under  two  general  divisions: 

1.  Those  that  make  prominent  a  definitely 
spiritual  purpose,  and  employ  direct  religious 
agencies. 

2.  Those  that  make  good  fellowship  promi- 
nent as  an  indirect  means  of  promoting  the  in- 
terests of  the  local  church. 

Brotherhoods  and  Bible  Classes. — 1.  In  the 
first  division  we  find  organizations  such  as  the 
following : 

(a)  Chapters  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew 
and  Philip.  The  Brotherhood  was  started 
among  churches  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the 
U.  S.,  but  not  as  a  strictly  denominational  or- 
ganization   or    under    denominational    control. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  11 

Churches  in  other  denominations  organized 
chapters.  Our  own  Assembly  in  1899  endorsed 
this  organization,  and  commended  it  to  the  fa- 
vorable consideration  of  the  sessions  of  our 
churches. 

The  object  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and 
Philip  is  the  spread  of  Christ 's  kingdom  among 
men,  especially  young  men. 

The  rules  of  the  Brotherhood  are  two:  The 
Rule  of  Prayer,  and  the  Rule  of  Service.  The 
Rule  of  Prayer  is  to  pray  daily  for  the  spread 
of  Christ's  kingdom  among  young  men,  and  for 
God's  blessing  upon  the  labors  of  the  Brother- 
hood. The  Rule  of  Service  is,  to  make  an  ear- 
nest effort  each  week  to  bring  at  least  one  young 
man  within  hearing  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  as  set  forth  in  the  services  of  the  church, 
young  people's  prayer  meetings  and  young 
men's  Bible  classes. 

There  are  now  several  hundred  active  chap- 
ters of  this  Brotherhood  in  our  denomination.* 

(b)  The  Organized  Men's  Bible  Class.— This 
type  of  work  for  men  has  had  great  and  con- 
stantly increasing  success.  The  Baraca  Union 
of  America  has  a  large  number  of  men's  Bible 
classes  under  its  care,  with  some  in  our 
churches,  and,  as  a  rule,  doing  effective  service 
for  Christ  and  the  church. 

The   Cook   County    (Illinois)    Sunday-school 

*  Churches  desiring  information  regarding  the  formation 
of  chapters  should  communicate  with  the  Rev.  W.  H. 
Pheley,  Sec,  1308  Arch  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


12  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

Association,  through  a  special  department,  has 
done  much  to  make  men's  Bible  classes  popu- 
lar throughout  the  whole  country. 

The  most  notable  development  of  this  type 
of  work  is  seen  in  the  Young  Men's  Presby- 
terian Union  of  Chicago.  This  paragraph  is 
from  its  constitution : 

"The  object  of  the  Union  shall  be  to  establish 
fraternal  relations  between  all  Bible  classes, 
clubs,  and  kindred  organizations  devoted  to 
work  for  young  men,  in  the  churches  holding 
the  Eeformed  faith,  within  the  limits  of  Chi- 
cago Presbytery;  to  foster  religious  education, 
spiritual  development,  denominational  fealty, 
and  broad  Christian  citizenship;  and  to 
strengthen  fellowship  among  all  young  men  in 
such  churches." 

The  Bible  class  is  made  the  dominant  feature, 
but  auxiliary  means  are  employed  for  reaching 
men.  This  work  is  accomplished  through  dis- 
tinct departments,  such  as  Devotion,  Fealty, 
Education,  Citizenship,  Organization,  Fellow- 
ship, Missions,  Evangelistics,  and  Athletics. 

The  work  of  this  Union  has  created  such  en- 
thusiasm that  nearly  all  our  churches  in  Chi- 
cago have  organized  their  men  on  this  basis. 
Quite  a  number  of  the  clubs  and  leagues  that 
had  been  organized  for  purely  social  or  literary 
purposes,  and  had  become  weak  or  extinct,  have 
been  reorganized  on  the  Bible  class  plan,  with 
a  decided  increase  of  spiritual  efficiency.  The 
Union  is  spiritual  at  its  core,  and  has  become 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  13 

a  vital,  aggressive,  and  permanent  force  in 
unifying  the  Presbyterian  men  of  Chicago,  and 
has  awakened  a  degree  of  denominational 
loyalty  and  evangelistic  zeal  never  before 
known  among  them. 

Clubs  and  Leagues. — 2.  The  second  class  of 
societies  are  of  what  may  be  regarded  the  so- 
cial type.  These  have  employed  all  kinds  of 
methods  with  the  ultimate  aim  of  strengthen- 
ing the  local  church.  Where  the  methods  em- 
ployed have,  in  a  measure,  kept  the  church  and 
its  spiritual  objects  largely  in  the  background, 
and  the  chief  means  employed  were  suppers 
and  socials,  the  investigation  shows  that  such 
societies  last  only  a  few  short  years.  It  has 
been  almost  demonstrated  by  the  Questionaire 
that  in  order  to  permanency  and  efficiency  there 
must  be  some  clearly  avowed  spiritual  purpose. 

The  most  successful  societies  that  have  em- 
ployed indirect  means  have  followed  many  of 
the  methods  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation. This  agency  has  given  the  churches 
an  illustration  of  what  men  "can  accomplish 
in  practical  Christian  activities  when  they  give 
themselves  seriously  to  the  task."  Many  of 
these  methods  have  been  employed  by  churches 
that  are  popularly  called  "Institutional 
Churches,"  which  really  means  nothing  more 
than  that  the  church  has  organized  agencies  to 
do  works  of  practical  Christian  usefulness  in 
addition  to  the  work  of  providing  for  worship, 
devotion,  and  Scripture  study. 


14  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

It  is  generally  recognized  that  the  men  of  the 
average  church  do  little  or  nothing,  unless  ' '  offi- 
cers in  the  church,"  in  the  way  of  service  that 
would  be  a  direct  help  to  the  church  in  increas- 
ing its  influence  in  a  community.  It  ought  to 
be  far  easier  for  the  men  of  any  congregation 
to  organize  a  thoroughly  successful  work  than 
it  is  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  do  so.  In  a  congre- 
gation we  have  a  definite  constituency  to  appeal 
to  and  a  church  building  as  a  centre  for  opera- 
tions. There  would  seem  to  be  a  definite  ob- 
ligation to  prosecute  some  such  work  in  almost 
every  congregation,  duly  adjusted  to  its  equip- 
ment, environment,  and  constituency. 

The  Questionaire  revealed  the  fact  that  most 
failures  were  attributed  to  "lack  of  a  definite 
purpose";  "lack  of  proper  organization"; 
"lack  of  cooperation  with  other  similar  organiz- 
ations"; "ignorance  as  to  best  methods  to  em- 
ploy"; "too  much  of  the  social  element,"  and 
"not  enough  religion." 

Success  has  been  constant  where  there  was  a 
well-defined  purpose  constantly  kept  in  view, 
and  where  the  pastor  was  able  to  secure  the  co- 
operation of  earnest,  enthusiastic  helpers. 

The  methods  employed  by  the  successful  or- 
ganizations of  this  type  have  been  such  as  these : 

1.  Plans  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  Sun- 
day evening  service,  by  publicity,  by  looking 
after  strangers,  and  providing  for  the  gen- 
eral social  intercourse  of  the  men  of  the  con- 
gregation. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  15 

2.  The  organizing  of  Ushers'  Associations. 

3.  The  organizing  of  classes  for  the  study  of 
missions. 

4.  The  promotion  of  intelligence  regarding 
the  Boards  of  the  Church. 

5.  The  establishment  of  bath-rooms  and  gym- 
nasiums ;  reading  rooms  and  libraries ;  employ- 
ment and  boarding-house  bureaus ;  sick  and  re- 
lief funds;  savings  banks;  classes  for  physical 
culture;  athletics;  educational  classes  of  var- 
ious kinds. 

6.  The  promotion  of  civic  reform. 

7.  The  creation  and  promotion  of  temperance 
sentiment. 

8.  Work  for  boys. 

The  Action  of  the  General  Assembly.  Af- 
ter the  consideration  of  the  report  at  the  meet- 
ing at  Des  Moines,  May,  1906,  the  following 
action  was  adopted  unanimously: 

1.  That  this  General  Assembly  authorizes  the 
formation  of  a  Brotherhood  within  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
to  include  all  men's  organizations  now  existing 
or  hereafter  to  be  formed  in  connection  with 
local  congregations. 

2.  It  is  further  recommended : 

(a)  That  all  existing  organizations  of  men 
in  our  congregations  which  declare  their  adop- 
tion of  Article  2  of  the  Provisional  Plan,  here- 
inafter given,  be  hereby  recognized  as  charter 
organizations  of  the  Brotherhood. 

(b)  That   in   all    our    congregations,   where 


16  THE  PEESBYTEEIAN   BItOTHEKHOOD 

there  is  at  present  no  such  organization,  steps 
be  taken,  wherever  possible,  to  secure  some  or- 
ganization of  men. 

(c)  That  all  presbyteries  and  synods  appoint 
a  Standing  Committee  on  the  Brotherhood,  for 
the  purpose  of  fostering  in  whatever  ways  may 
be  expedient  organized  work  for  men  in  the 
churches,  and  that  these  committees  arrange  for 
presbyterial  and  synodical  conventions  of  the 
laymen  within  their  bounds. 

(d)  That  the  General  Assembly  appoint  each 
year  a  Standing  Committee  on  the  Brother- 
hood. 

(e)  That  the  Assembly  appoint  a  Committee 
on  Men's  Societies,  consisting  of  five  ministers 
and  five  elders,  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting 
and  promoting  this  movement  on  the  lines  set 
forth  in  the  Provisional  Plan.  This  committee 
shall  arrange  for  the  first  convention,  which 
shall  be  held  without  expense  to  the  General 
Assembly. 

(/)  That  a  convention  of  the  laymen  of  the 
church  be  held,  under  the  authorization  and 
approval  of  the  General  Assembly,  as  soon  as 
practical. 

3.  That  this  Assembly  approves  and  adopts 
the  following  Provisional  Plan  for  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Brotherhood: 

(1)  The  name  of  this  organization  shall  be 
"The  Presbyterian  Brotherhood. " 

(2)  The  object  of  the  Brotherhood  shall  be 
to  secure  the  organization  of  the  men  of  our 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  17 

congregations,  with  a  view  to  spiritual  develop- 
ment, fraternal  relations,  denominational  fealty, 
the  strengthening  of  fellowship,  and  the  engage- 
ment in  works  of  Christian  usefulness. 

(3)  Conventions  shall  be  held  from  time  to 
time  for  mutual  counsel  and  inspiration.  Each 
organization  shall  be  entitled  to  at  least  one 
representative  in  such  conventions,  and  one  rep- 
resentative for  each  additional  one  hundred 
members  or  fraction  thereof  not  less  than  twen- 
ty-five. Each  convention  shall  plan  for  the 
meeting  of  the  convention  following,  and  shall 
appoint  such  committees  and  officers  as  may 
be  necessary. 

(4)  The  powers  of  the  annual  convention  shall 
be  advisory  and  declarative  only,  and  no  action 
taken  by  the  convention  shall  be  binding  on 
any  local  organization  unless  adopted  by  reg- 
ular action  according  to  its  constitution. 

(5)  The  Brotherhood  shall  report  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  annually,  and  shall  employ  such 
means  as  may  be  necessary  to  secure,  in  co- 
operation with  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General 
Assembly,  detailed  annual  reports  from  all  lo- 
cal organizations. 

(6)  It  is  distinctly  declared  that  the  purpose 
of  this  plan  is,  to  bring  all  existing  organiza- 
tions in  our  churches  into  a  close  working  union, 
without  in  any  way  imposing  on  them  a  definite 
form  of  organization,  and  leaving  them  abso- 
lutely free  to  prosecute  any  form  or  method  of 
Christian  activity  that  may  be  adapted  to  the 


18  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

local  organization;  provided,  however,  that  the 
constitution  of  the  local  organization  shall  de- 
clare that  it  is  to  be  governed  by  the  principles 
set  forth  in  Chapter  XXIII  of  the  Form  of 
Government  of  the  Presbyterian  Chnrch  in  the 
U.  S.  A.,  and  therefore  "be  under  the  immediate 
direction,  control,  and  authority  of  the  session 
of  such  church. ' ' 

The  Committee  appointed  under  this  action 
consisted  of  those  already  named,  with  the  ad- 
dition of  the  Eev.  Alfred  H.  Barr,  Detroit, 
Michigan ;  the  Eev.  DeWitt  M.  Benham,  Ph.D., 
Baltimore,  Md. ;  Mr.  Charles  T.  Thompson, 
Minneapolis,  Minn. ;  and  Mr.  James  M.  Patter- 
son, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Under  the  direction  of  the  committee,  the  con- 
vention was  held  with  the  able  assistance  of 
the  pastors  and  elders  of  the  churches  of  In- 
dianapolis. 

Sample  Constitutions.  The  numerous  re- 
quests that  have  been  made  for  suggestions  for 
constitutions  are  met,  in  a  measure,  at  least, 
by  what  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 


II 

OPENING  EXERCISES 


Brothers  of  the  convention:  Our  elder 
Brother,  the  unseen  One  is  here  with  us,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  here  with  us  in  power.  The 
power  of  this  convention,  the  power  of  this 
movement  depends  not  upon  man,  but  upon  him. 
It  depends  upon  what  we  shall  do  while  we  are 
here,  and  whether  we  ourselves  shall  get  out  of 
sight  and  sink  the  human  element  and  let  the 
Master  take  possession  of  us  and  do  as  he  will. 
At  the  beginning  of  this  devotional,  shall 
it  not  be  a  time  of  special  consecration  for 
every  one  of  us?  As  we  begin,  let  us  take 
hold  of  Christ  and  let  him  do  as  he  will,  whether 
he  will  make  much  of  this  convention  or  little. 
Our  only  concern  is  whether  or  not  we  shall  be 
absolutely  subject  to  him.  In  this  spirit  let  us 
begin  this  hour  of  prayer,  which  will  be  lead 
by  the  Rev.  John  E.  Bushnell,  D.D.,  pastor  of 
the  Westminster  Church,  Minneapolis,  Minne- 
sota. 

Dr.     Bushnell     said. — Beloved     Brethren: 
19 


20  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

How  we  open  this  first  hour  may  make  all  the 
difference  in  the  world  as  to  how  we  shall  spend 
all  of  the  rest  of  the  hours  of  the  convention.  I 
have  come  before  you  at  the  request  of  this 
committee  to  occupy  the  time  at  this  hour,  but 
I  realize  that  there  are  eloquent  listeners  in 
this  body,  that  there  are  longing  hearts  here, 
and  that  the  burden  is  not  laid  upon  me  as  first 
I  thought  it  was  when  the  appointment  came 
to  me.  But  we  are  here  to  look  into  the  deep 
things  of  God.  The  nearest  and  safest  ap- 
proach of  the  Brotherhood  of  Man  is  by  the 
great  white  throne.  It  is  very  important  that 
we  should  lose  sight  of  self,  forget  the  names 
connected  with  this  convention,  be  absolutely 
devoid  of  self  consciousness,  which  would  stand 
between  us  and  the  greatest  success.  So  I 
simply  want  to  open  the  Book  this  morning  to 
give  to  you  the  message  which  God  has  given  to 
my  heart. 

While  other  bodies  may  pay  attention  ?to 
many  things  in  organization,  we  still  persist 
in  believing  in  the  great  inspiration  of  our 
church,  that  it  was  created  through  the  vision 
that  man  had  of  the  glory  of  God.  I  believe 
the  one  great  ruling  thought  in  connection  with 
our  Presbyterian  Brotherhood  is  such  a  text 
as  that  found  in  the  book  of  Revelation,  "Holy, 
holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  God,  the  Almighty,  who 
was  and  who  is  and  who  is  to  come."  To  the 
extent  this  morning  that  you  and  I  can  under- 
stand the  mortality  of  all  human  agencies,  to 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  21 

that  extent  shall  we  accomplish  something.  In 
the  first  epistle  of  Paul  to  Timothy,  in  the  first 
chapter,  there  is  a  wonderful  doxology  into 
which  the  apostle  enters,  out  of  a  long  and  mag- 
nificent course  of  reasoning.  Life  has  its  key- 
note; even  material  things  have  their  keynote; 
every  bridge  that  spans  a  river  has  its  keynote ; 
every  building  that  is  made  of  stone  and  mor- 
tar has  its  keynote ;  the  doctrines  of  men  have 
their  keynotes ;  the  lives  of  men  have  their  key- 
note; prayer  has  its  keynote.  This  is  true  in 
all  of  the  affairs  of  human  life,  and  the  world's 
too. 

The  first  element  of  Paul's  doxology,  which 
also  went  a  long  way  toward  the  making  of  it, 
you  will  find  in  the  eleventh  verse.  You  do 
not  reach  the  doxology  until  you  come  to  the 
seventeenth  verse.  Here  is  the  first  step  to- 
ward it.  Here  he  touches  the  orchestra  of  the 
soul ;  he  is  getting  into  tune.  See  what  it  says. 
"According  to  the  gospel  of  the  glory  of  the 
blessed  God,  which  was  committed  to  my  trust.' ' 

Stop  there  for  a  moment,  and  lose  all  other 
thought  in  the  contemplation  of  the  meaning  of 
this.  Our  gospel  is  "the  gospel  of  the  glory 
of  the  blessed  God."  That  means  One  whose 
heart  is  so  kind,  so  tender,  so  watchful  over 
all  of  his  works  that  we  can  wound  it,  we  can 
give  him  a  heartache  just  as  we  can  bring  sor- 
row and  grief  to  our  earthly  parents.  So  so- 
licitous is  he  for  us  that  everything  that  con- 
cerns our  happiness  is  such  that  it  is  a  mes- 


22  THE    PRESBYTEPJAN    BROTHERHOOD 

sage  of  the  gospel  of  God.  Is  not  the  God  of 
our  fathers  the  blessed  God?  The  gospel  that 
we  preach  is  the  gospel  of  our  blessed  God ;  One 
whose  love  never  fails  toward  them  that  seek 
hint;  One  whose  pity  is  deeper  than  the  sea, 
and  higher  than  the  heavens.  Is  the  gospel  of 
the  blessed  God  in  our  hearts  this  morning? 
"What  we  need  in  this  convention  is  to  take  a 
new  conception  of  the  duties  of  life,  and  of  the 
beauty  and  power  of  the  gospel  that  brings  to 
us  the  loving-kindness  of  the  Father,  that  we 
may  look  into  his  face. 

Is  not  this  Fatherhood  above  all  fatherhoods  ? 
Is  it  upon  the  portals  of  our  sanctuary,  over  our 
altars,  in  our  homes,  written  in  our  hearts? 
This  word  "Fatherhood"  is  a  blessed  word. 
Are  we  ready  this  morning  to  enter  into  all  of 
the  length  and  breadth  and  depth  and  height  of 
this  expression, — "the  gospel  of  the  glory  of 
the  blessed  God,"  who  is  holy  because  he  is 
blessed ;  because  he  is  kind ;  because  he  is  long- 
ing, waiting,  and  working  to  see  the  further- 
ing of  his  purpose,  the  redemption  of  those  for 
whom  Jesus  Christ  has  shed  his  most  precious 
blood? 

That  is  a  sweet  story  that  is  going  the  rounds 

just  now  concerning  Mr.  S .    When  he  saw 

that  the  windmills  of  the  country  bore  the 
words,  "God  is  love,"  he  asked  the  peasant  why 
that  was  put  on  the  windmills.  Was  is  be- 
cause they  thought  his  love  changed  with  every 
passing  breeze?     The  peasant  replied,   "No, 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  23 

that  is  all  right;  it  means  that  no  matter  from 
which  way  the  wind  blows,  God  is  still  the  God 
of  love."  That  is  the  one  great  inspiration 
that  gives  us  hope  for  the  work  which  we  have 
before  us  this  morning. 

Some  time  since,  I  was  a  stranger  passing  an 
idle  hour  in  a  great  city,  in  one  of  its  lovely 
parks.  It  was  a  beautiful  June  morning.  The 
grass  was  never  greener  nor  the  sky  bluer. 
The  birds  were  singing  their  sweetest  songs,  and 
all  nature  seemed  to  be  making  a  jubilee  over 
this  thought  of  the  glory  of  God,  the  loving 
God  that  made  all  things.  As  I  wandered  along 
with  my  eyes  lifted  up  in  contemplation  of  the 
glory  of  God,  I  almost  stumbled  upon  the  pros- 
trate form  of  a  poor  wretch  who  had  not  yet 
slept  away  his  night's  intoxication.  And  as  I 
thought  of  the  comparison  of  this  beautiful 
world  with  this  sad  sight;  of  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  beautiful  morning;  and  this  poor  fellow 
whom  God  loved  more  than  he  loved  all  of  the 
loveliness  of  the  outer  nature;  this  man  drunk 
with  the  fumes  of  alcohol  whose  soul  might 
have  been  intoxicated  with  heavenly  harmonies ; 
whose  heart  might  have  been  thrilled  with 
Christian  music ;  I  could  not  but  be  sad. 

What  is  the  second  note  in  the  preparation 
of  this  wonderful  doxology?  The  first  is 
Fatherhood.  Look  at  the  fifteenth  verse, 
' '  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sin- 
ners ;  of  whom  I  am  chief."  Bear  in  mind  that 
God  has  come  down  from  the  throne  of  glory; 


24  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

that  lie  is  within  human  reach.  The  Lamb  of 
God  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world;  his 
precious  blood  was  spilled  for  mankind.  Jesus 
Christ  was  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  They 
built  their  pantheon  in  ancient  Greece,  and  into 
this  the  people  came  to  appease  the  wrath  of 
their  gods,  and  buy  their  favor.  They  invited 
the  Christians  to  erect  a  statue  there  of  Christ 
that  he  might  belong  to  this  congregation  of 
deities.  It  was  a  foolish  idea ;  we  can  forgive 
them ;  little  knew  they  of  the  sacredness  of  the 
cross  of  Christ.  He  could  no  more  be  com- 
pared with  their  deities,  than  the  great  solar 
system  could  be  classified  with  the  lamps  and 
lights  that  man  has  constructed  with  his  hands. 
We  are  invited  to  join  a  pantheon  in  this  land, 
the  pantheon  of  literature.  Where  do  they 
place  Christ?  They  say  great  things  of  his 
beauty  and  culture;  that  it  is  above  all  culture 
codes;  and  we  know  that  no  man  ever  wrote 
with  his  pen  anything  to  correspond  to  the 
beauty  and  richness  of  the  Beatitudes.  There 
is  a  pantheon  in  Philadelphia  which  says  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  a  mighty  sage,  and  that  he 
had  great  wisdom,  and  they  will  erect  his  statue 
with  others.  We  answer  back  that  if  Christ  is 
only  another  name  added  to  the  roll  of  philos- 
ophers, our  hosanna  is  robbed  of  its  sweetest 
note.  This  would  erase  the  doxology  from  our 
pages,  and  the  hosanna  from  our  hearts.  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.  How  do 
we  feel  down  in  our  hearts  ?     Even  after  I  have 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  25 

preached  the  gospel  a  number  of  years,  some- 
times down  in  my  heart,  where  the  world  can- 
not see,  I  wish  that  some  one  would  come  along 
and  put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  some  one  who 
did  not  know  who  I  was,  and  ask  me  to  come  to 
Jesus.  I  wish  that  some  one  would  meet  me  in 
the  street  some  day  and  in  a  loving  way  say, 
"Will  you  not  come  to  Jesus!"  That  is  what 
we  need  this  morning.  If  we  have  come  to  him 
once  for  pardon  of  sins,  that  is  all  right,  but 
we  should  come  to  him  again  and  again.  We 
still  need  him.  This  is  a  strange  question  to 
ask  a  gathering  like  this,  but  I  must  ask  it. 
Are  you  saved?  I  know  this  seems  rather  out 
of  place  in  a  Brotherhood  meeting  like  this, 
but  you  need  to  go  back  to  the  rudiments  of 
your  faith.  Are  you  saved  unto  all  glory? 
Are  you  close  to  Jesus?  Are  you  saved  by  a 
great,  unconquerable  faith?  Are  you  saved 
unto  all  the  light  of  gladness  that  comes  by 
feeling  that  every  day  you  are  walking  with 
him?  Then  your  life  is  no  longer  simply  work, 
but  every  deed,  every  heart  throb,  every  honor, 
and  every  tear  are  parts  of  the  doxology. 

I  beg  you  to  take  the  third  step  that  Paul 
took  before  he  passed  into  that  marvelous  dox- 
ology. Look  at  the  sixteenth  verse.  ' '  Howbeit 
for  this  cause  I  obtained  mercy,  that  in  me  as 
chief  might  Jesus  Christ  show  forth  all  his  long 
suffering,  for  an  ensample  of  them  that  should 
thereafter  believe  on  him  unto  eternal  life." 
What    does    that    mean?     What   is    the    third 


26  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

note  of  the  apostle's  wonderful  doxology!  It 
is  the  word  that  is  ringing  over  Indianapolis 
to-day,  this  word  Brotherhood.  This  is  a  great 
crowning  thought.  Then  after  all,  a  man's 
place  in  this  world  is  first  in  the  depth  of  his 
nature  to  realize  something  of  the  glory  of  the 
blessed  God,  that  he  shall  pass  through  that 
blessed  reviving  experience,  which  is  promised 
unto  the  saints  of  God.  But  he  must  not 
stop  there.  What  does  it  mean,  this  sixteenth 
verse  ?  It  means,  as  I  understand  it,  that  God 
simply  saved  man  as  a  specimen.  God  saved 
me  that  he  might  hold  me  up  and  show  the  world 
what  he  could  do  with  me.  That  is  my  only 
purpose  in  life, — that  I  might  drink  a  little  at 
the  fountain  of  life,  and  God  might  say,  "See 
what  I  have  done  for  that  poor  miserable  man." 
I  am  God's  specimen,  God's  example  for  other 
men,  and  they  will  say,  "If  God  could  save  that 
man,  help  him,  and  make  him  happy  and  con- 
tent, then  he  can  do  the  same  for  me. ' '  That  is 
the  end  of  all  of  our  striving,  brothers,  that  God 
may  so  take  hold  of  us  and  waken  the  music 
in  our  souls  that  the  heavenly  choirs  sometimes 
listening  to  our  palpitating,  throbbing  life,  may 
catch  a  sweet  message  from  the  harps  of  gold, 
and  see  not  human,  but  divine  workmanship, 
which  has  dropped  a  little  spark  of  the  holy  life 
in  our  human  veins  out  of  which  it  creeps  in 
loving  tongues  and  accents.  Now  this  world  is 
being  drawn  by  golden  cords  to  Jesus'  feet. 
These  are  the  testimonies  of  the  consecrated 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  27 

energies  of  those  who  have  learned  for  them- 
selves the  unspeakable  depth  of  life  as  it  comes 
from  the  hand  of  Christ.  Is  there  anything  in 
life  to  be  compared  to  this  great  promise  that 
we  may  gather  to  ourselves  eternal  life,  and  see 
heavenly  ideals  of  conduct,  and  incorporate 
them  into  our  lives? 

A  man  said  to  me  the  other  day  that  he  be- 
lieved wars  are  necessary,  that  heroism  would 
depart  from  our  young  men  were  it  not  for 
discipline  in  military  struggle.  I  was  horrified 
at  the  thought.  God  forbid  that  men  should 
fight  one  another  in  order  to  perpetuate  hero- 
ism. Is  it  true  that  we  will  no  longer  have 
heroes  because  men  no  longer  kill  each  other? 
There  are  greater  heroisms.  If  young  men 
will  come  to  Jesus,  he  will  fill  their  souls  with 
work  to  be  done,  battles  to  be  fought,  struggles 
to  be  endured,  rivers  to  be  forded,  swelling  tor- 
rents to  be  braved,  mountains  to  be  climbed. 
May  we  have  fire  in  these  hearts  of  ours  at  the 
touch  of  Jesus  Christ  when  he  tells  us  to  go 
forward,  counting  no  cost  too  heavy,  no  journey 
too  long,  no  campaign  too  costly,  that  thereby 
we  may  bring  this  living  fire  to  suffering  hu- 
manity. I  tell  you  that  those  who  follow  the 
banner  of  Jesus  Christ  have  need  of  courage, 
patience,  clearness  of  conviction,  and  consecra- 
tion of  purpose,  in  comparison  with  which  this 
world's  courage  and  patience  seem  but  rudi- 
mentary. Paul  was  saved  that  through  him 
the  grace  of  the  loving  God  might  flow  and  be- 


28  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

come  a  flame  of  fire  in  the  name  of  the  Master. 
"We  ought  to  keep  this  thought  in  our  heart  of 
hearts  that  whatever  else  we  may  fail  of,  that 
whatever  else  we  may  succeed  in,  in  this  life 
this  is  the  test  of  success.  It  is  a  shame  that  a 
man  should  withhold  his  hand  from  the  Brother- 
hood of  men  and  refuse  to  pass  on  the  message 
of  the  glory  of  God  to  those  who  are  in  dark- 
ness. This  is  the  very  climax  of  shame ;  this  is 
the  very  height  of  ignominy.  I  believe  the  gos- 
pel has  brought  us  to  this  point  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  race  that  henceforth  if  a  man  shall 
die  who  has  been  favored  of  God  with  a  voice 
to  speak  and  sing  and  tell  of  his  largeness  and 
beauty,  and  has  withheld  his  manhood  for  the 
sake  of  selfish  comforts,  and  departs  this  life 
with  no  thought  of  telling  of  God 's  love  among 
the  poor  or  in  the  habitations  of  darkness, — 
that  man  does  a  great  wrong,  because  he  has 
withheld  his  manhood  from  the  hands  of  him 
who  saved  him  unto  life  eternal,  if  he  be  saved 
at  all. 

Now,  out  of  this  trinity  of  thoughts,  do  you 
wonder  that  the  apostle  can  no  longer  restrain 
himself?  Fatherhood,  the  glory  of  the  blessed 
God,  that  Jesus  Christ  by  his  blood  has  saved 
his  soul.  He  breaks  out  in  the  seventeenth 
verse,  "Now  unto  the  King  eternal,  immortal, 
invisible,  the  only  God,  be  honor  and  glory  for 
ever  and  ever.  Amen."  Brothers  can  you 
swell  that  doxology  to-day!  Can  you  through 
all  your  organization  keep  in  your  heart  of 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  29 

hearts  the  great  Christian  doxology,  and  take 
it  with  you  north,  south,  east,  and  west?  Let 
us  try  it. 

Now  brethren,  the  meeting  is  yours  for  a  few 
minutes.  We  have  six  or  eight  minutes  before 
our  hour  is  up.  We  may  weld  ourselves  to- 
gether under  the  all  pervading  and  all  warming 
influence  of  the  glory  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
we  may  then  no  longer  be  from  New  York,  and 
from  Ohio,  and  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  and  Min- 
nesota, and  all  the  rest,  but  we  may  be  just 
one  large,  childlike  Presbyterian  heart  bowing 
before  his  throne  asking  him  to  put  music  of 
the  great  doxology  in  our  hearts  that  we  may 
preach  it  and  discuss  it  all  of  the  rest  of  our 
lives  until  the  lone  world  shall  catch  it  up  and 
teach  it  until  they  reach  the  great  white  throne. 
I  want  to  ask  for  a  brief  season  of  prayer. 
Will  you  sing  just  one  verse  of  something  that 
we  know,  and  then  we  would  like  to  have  thirty 
or  forty  pointed  little  prayers  that  go  right 
home  to  God.  Don't  wait  for  one  another.  I 
wish  that  Dr.  Shaw  would  start  us  with  a 
prayer. 

Prayer  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  John  Balcom  Shaw. 
— 0  God,  our  Father,  our  Saviour,  who  doth 
breathe  into  human  hearts  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ,  in  these  opening  moments  of  this  great 
convention  we  do  pray  for  thy  gracious  and  ten- 
der benediction.  0  God,  let  us  feel  thy  pres- 
ence so  deeply  and  so  keenly  and  so  unmistak- 
ably that  we  will  be  fairly  caught  up  into  thy 


30  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

glory  this  morning.  We  pray  thee  that  we  shall 
forget  about  the  world  and  the  temporal  things 
of  earth,  and  that  we  may  be  lost  in  unselfish- 
ness and  in  the  glory  of  our  God  and  thus  be 
lifting  up  the  cross  of  our  God,  and  having  its 
warmth  and  life  passed  into  ours,  and  that  we 
shall  become  inflamed  with  thy  precious  life, 
and  with  a  passion  for  service,  and  back  into 
the  world  we  shall  go  to  take  this  message  and 
the  knowledge  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  this 
testimony  of  the  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  to  those 
who  are  not  yet  one  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
Christ.  We  do  thank  thee,  0  God,  for  this 
opening  moment ;  how  it  has  set  us  in  tune  with 
the  blessed  word,  and  has  brought  us  into  uni- 
son with  the  choirs  of  the  redeemed  this  morn- 
ing. We  cannot  keep  it  in  our  hearts ;  it  breaks 
over  our  lips;  we  must  give  thee  the  doxology 
of  our  lives.  God  forgive  us  for  all  of  the  dis- 
cord that  we  have  brought  into  that  doxology  in 
the  past,  and  by  thy  redeeming  grace  and  trans- 
forming spirit  give  us  the  power  to  put  all  dis- 
cord out  of  the  chorus  hereafter  and  be  in  uni- 
son with  heaven  and  in  tune  with  the  very  heart 
of  the  gospel,  not  only  with  our  lips  but  in  all 
of  the  testimony  of  our  lives  in  this  great  as- 
cending and  advancing  doxology  that  grows  as 
our  lives  go  forward  unto  the  King  eternal,  in- 
visible, the  only  wise  God,  and  to  him  be  honor 
and  glory,  forever  and  ever,  Amen. 

(Followed  by  sentence  prayers.) 

Dr.    Bushnell. — Now,    dear    brethren,    our 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  31 

hour  is  up  and  I  feel  that  God  has  come  pretty 
close  to  us,  and  I  am  afraid  to  stop  this  meeting 
at  this  time ;  but  yet  I  know  there  are  great  in- 
terests lying  before  us,  and  that  we  will  not 
soon  forget  our  first  meeting  together.  May 
we  close  this  hour  by  repeating  the  Lord's 
Prayer  in  unison? 


Ill 

WHAT    THE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH 
STANDS  FOR 

BY  WILLIAM  HENRY  ROBERTS,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

The  churches  of  a  nation  are  both  causes  and 
effects  in  relation  to  national  development  and 
welfare.  As  causes  they  operate  to  make  the 
national  life  a  distinctive  life  with  marked  char- 
acteristics. As  effects  they  reveal  in  their  own 
life  features  which  are  stamped  upon  them  by 
the  nation  of  which  they  are  an  integral  part. 
The  churches  and  the  nation  influence  each 
other  reciprocally  and  powerfully. 

The  church  of  Scotland,  for  example,  has  been 
a  potent  influence  in  the  development  of  the 
Scotch  nation,  and  the  Scotch  character  has  im- 
parted much  of  its  rugged  strength  and  intel- 
lectual clearness  to  the  church  which  has  been 
the  mother  of  many  other  Presbyterian 
churches.  Further,  the  Protestant  churches 
have  been  sources  of  life,  power,  and  progress 
in  a  marked  way  to  the  nations  in  which  they 
predominate,  and  these  nations  have  made  the 
churches  themselves  increasingly  enterprising, 
earnest,  and  vigorous. 

32 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  33 

What  is  true  of  Scotland  and  other  lands  is 
true  also  of  the  United  States  of  America.  The 
American  churches  are  different  in  certain  re- 
spects from  the  Christian  churches  of  other 
continents,  just  as  the  American  nation  is  dis- 
tinct from  all  other  nations.  The  American  na- 
tion is,  in  an  emphatic  sense,  the  outgrowth  of 
the  American  churches,  and  the  churches  have 
been  influenced  greatly  in  their  development  by 
the  nation.  Both  churches  and  nation,  because 
they  are  American,  are  instinct  with  the  demo- 
cratic spirit,  are  full  of  a  restless  life  which 
seeks  through  all  outward  forms  the  spiritual 
realities  for  which  the  forms  stand,  and  are 
possessed  in  a  marked  way  with  world-wide 
ideas  and  hopes. 

This  fact  is  true  even  of  American  churches 
of  the  monarchial  type  in  government.  Such 
churches  in  this  land  are  freer,  nearer  the 
Christian  ideal,  and  possessed  of  a  better  and 
fuller  life  than  their  counterparts  in  other  and 
older  lands.  By  whatever  denominational 
names  known,  the  Christian  churches  of  this 
land  do  differ  from  those  of  other  countries. 
The  word  "American"  describes  not  only  our 
country,  but  also  its  churches  in  their  nature, 
their  history,  their  characteristics,  and  their 
present  and  future  potentiality  for  good. 

That  they  would  thus  differ,  was  apprehended 
by  one,  who,  born  in  Scotland  nearly  two  hun- 
dred years  ago,  became  an  American  of  the 
Americans,  and  lived  to  see  the  Declaration  of 

3 


34  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

American  Independence,  which  he  signed,  be- 
come a  reality,  both  in  state  and  church.  It  was 
John  Witherspoon  who  invented  the  word 
"Americanism,"  to  describe  the  spirit  which  he 
saw  abroad  in  this  land  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  a  spirit  which  pervades  to-day  our 
whole  country,  influences  powerfully  European 
churches  as  well  as  American,  and  has  become 
a  cry  of  alarm  within  the  precincts  of  the  Vati- 
can.    Americanism  is  a  great  reality. 

This  much  in  the  way  of  introduction  to  the 
subject,  "The  Presbyterian  Church — What  it 
Stands  For."  The  church,  whose  representa- 
tives we  are,  is  not  the  church  of  Scotland,  nor 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland,  but  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America.  We  are  gathered  as  Christians,  it  is 
true,  but  in  the  foreordaining  providence  of 
God,  we  are  American  Christians  of  the  Presby- 
terian type. 

In  the  light,  then,  of  American  history,  of 
American  religious  activity  in  the  present,  and 
of  American  hopes  for  the  future,  what  does 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America  stand  for? 

It  is  needful  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  sub- 
ject is  discussed  before  a  convention  of  Ameri- 
can Presbyterian  men  gathered  to  consider 
what  they  can  do  for  their  church,  their  coun- 
try, and  their  divine  Lord. 

Into  any  full  treatment  of  the  subject  the 
limits  of  time  forbid  us  to  enter.     Certain  par- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  35 

ticulars  are  noted  which  have  to  do  with  the 
church  and  the  nation,  and  which  are  vitally 
pertinent  to  present  conditions,  as  well  as  his- 
torically interesting  in  relation  to  the  past. 

I.  The  Presbyterian  Church  has  always  stood 
on  this  continent  for  the  government  of  the  peo- 
ple, by  the  people,  and  for  the  people.  It  is  his- 
torically the  first  of  American  federal  repub- 
lics. Its  General  Presbytery,  organized  in 
Philadelphia  in  1706,  antedated  by  three  quar- 
ters of  a  century  the  Continental  Congress.  It 
represented,  for  that  period  of  time,  prior  to 
American  independence,  more  than  any  other 
American  church,  all  the  political  ideas  in  which 
as  a  nation  we  profess  to  believe,  which  make 
us  to  differ  from  other  nations,  and  which  have 
made  us  and  will  keep  us  a  nation. 

Some  of  these  principles  are  the  equality  of 
men  before  the  law,  absolute  liberty  of  con- 
science, the  right  of  the  people  to  choose  their 
own  rulers,  and  make  their  own  laws,  and  the 
federal  system  of  political  government  as  the 
best  government  for  man.  The  beginnings  of 
these  and  other  ruling  ideas  were  brought  to 
this  new  land  by  those  protestant  Christians  of 
Europe  who  were  our  ecclesiastical  ancestors, 
and  were  early  developed  on  our  soil.  To  these 
transplanted  ideas,  the  great  principle  of  the 
absolute  separation  of  the  church  from  the 
state,  a  principle  of  purely  American  origin, 
was  added,  and  was  acknowledged  officially  by 
American  Presbyterians  in  1729. 


36  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

These  principles,  first  advocated  in  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries,  are  still  at 
work  in  the  modern  world,  are  still  potent  for 
the  securing  of  the  welfare  of  man,  are  still 
mighty  to  sweep  away  from  the  path  of  human 
progress  barriers  erected  by  caste  and  priest- 
hood, are  recognized  now  in  all  free  lands  as 
fundamental  to  man's  true  progress,  both  sec- 
ular and  religious,  in  this  world  of  time,  and 
on  this  continent  for  two  hundred  years  their 
constant  teacher,  their  loyal  advocate,  their 
steadfast  supporter,  amid  varying  conditions  of 
good  and  evil,  has  been  that  oldest  of  American 
federal  republics,  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America. 

Our  church  has  stood  in  our  country  for  two 
centuries  emphasizing  the  rights  of  the  indi- 
vidual, and  the  rights  and  welfare  of  all  the 
people.  Not  by  political  action  as  a  church  has 
it  accomplished  a  great  work  in  this  respect. 
Far  from  it!  Its  instruments  of  work  have 
been  the  example  furnished  by  its  own  system 
of  government,  the  teachings  of  its  pulpits,  and 
the  character  and  lives  of  its  members.  For 
instance,  in  no  spirit  of  boastfulness,  but  in  a 
spirit  of  thankfulness  to  God  do  we  point  out 
that  two  of  the  last  three  Presidents,  and  the 
present  President  of  the  United  States,  came 
out  of  Presbyterian  homes.  And  it  is  never 
to  be  forgotten  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  of 
the  Presbyterian  way  of  thinking.  Our  Ameri- 
can Presbyterian  Church  has  had  a  pervasive, 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  37 

far  reaching,  persuasive,  silent,  but  potential 
influence  in  securing  individual  right,  and  in 
determining  the  welfare  of  all  the  people  in  this 
Republic. 

And  the  need  of  the  present  and  the  future  in 
this  land  is  Christian  churches,  which  realize 
practically  the  value  of  the  individual,  which 
believe  in  all  the  people,  and  exist  for  all  the 
people.  May  our  church,  with  other  like 
churches,  maintain  aggressively  in  the  present 
and  in  the  future  in  this  line  of  progress  the 
results  which  they  have  secured  for  the  nation. 

II.  Next  in  order,  and  logically,  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  our  subject,  it  is  noted  that  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  stands  for  the  recognition  of 
the  rights  and  duties  of  the  laity  in  the  church. 
The  right  of  the  people  to  determine  the  gov- 
ernment and  control  the  policy  of  the  church  as 
well  as  the  state  is  a  distinctive  Presbyterian 
principle.  As  a  principle  it  is  one  of  the  New 
Testament  ideas  which  was  given  new  life  and 
power  by  the  Protestant  Reformation  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  which  has  received  largest 
recognition  in  English-speaking  lands,  especi- 
ally in  the  United  States. 

As  early  as  1611  a  Puritan  Presbyterian 
church  in  Virginia  was  in  the  charge  of  its 
minister  and  four  of  its  most  religious  men. 
The  American  Presbyterian  Church,  from  its 
foundation  in  1706,  has  been  governed  by  repre- 
sentative bodies,  in  which  ruling  elders,  as  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people,  are  seated  with  min- 


38  THE   PEESBYTEEIAN   BEOTHEEHOOD 

isters.  This  recognition  of  the  rights  and  du- 
ties of  the  people  in  the  church,  springing  out 
of  the  New  Testament  emphasis  on  the  min- 
istry of  gifts,  as  distinct  from  the  ministry  of 
office,  has  been  the  source  of  much  of  the  prog- 
ress made  by  many  American  denominations. 

At  the  beginning  of  our  history  as  a  nation 
only  the  churches  of  the  Puritan  and  the  Pres- 
byterian families  acknowledged  this  popular 
right  and  obligation,  but  since  that  day  all  the 
Protestant  churches  have  incorporated  the  prin- 
ciple unto  their  administrative  system  in 
greater  or  less  degree.  But,  whatever  the  dif- 
ference between  the  denominations  in  this  re- 
spect, the  leadership  in  its  acknowledgment  and 
application  belongs  to  the  churches  of  the  Puri- 
tan and  Presbyterian  type.  And  have  they  not 
been  in  the  van  of  all  religious  progress  in  this 
land,  perennial  sources  of  movements  for  moral 
reform  and  spiritual  regeneration  ?  Have  they 
not  by  their  deliberate  policies  repeated  in  these 
later  generations  New  Testament  history,  by  the 
founding  of  societies  for  Christian  work,  in- 
cluding in  their  membership  men,  women,  and 
children? 

All  these  are  facts  of  history  and  emphasize 
the  need  of  further  evolution  along  the  same 
lines.  The  time  has  come  when  to  maintain  its 
character  as  an  aggressive  and  progressive 
church,  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America  must  give  further  expression 
to  the  vital  principle  of  the  rights  and  duties 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  39 

of  the  laity,  by  the  fuller  organization  of  its 
members,  especially  its  men,  as  working  forces 
for  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  world. 

Some  other  churches  of  the  Presbyterian 
family  are  in  advance  of  our  church  in  this  re- 
spect. We  must  come  even  as  they  to  the  recog- 
nition of  the  logic  of  the  situation.  It  is  our 
boast  that  as  a  church  we  are  a  church  of  the 
New  Testament  model.  The  New  Testament 
church  emphasized  the  truth  that  the  possession 
even  of  one  talent  by  a  disciple  of  Christ  in- 
volved the  use  of  that  talent  in  the  Lord's  work, 
according  to  opportunity  and  under  proper 
guidance.  Are  we  a  New  Testament  church? 
Then  will  we  be  true  to  our  character  as  a 
church  by  making  this  our  watchword  for  min- 
isters and  people,  for  men,  women,  and  children, 
'Work  for  all,  and  all  at  work'? 

III.  A  third  thing  for  which  the  Presbyterian 
Church  stands  is  the  spirituality  of  the  church. 
It  has  always  been  the  clear  and  definite  teach- 
ing of  the  American  Presbyterian  Church  that 
not  only  is  the  church  a  spiritual  body,  but  also 
that  its  purposes  and  objects  are  purely  spirit- 
ual. This  principle  as  to  the  church  as  an  or- 
ganization finds  its  source  in  that  word  of 
Christ  which  declares  that  his  kingdom  is  not 
of  this  world.  It  has  as  its  basis  in  the  indi- 
vidual life,  however,  the  divine  invitation, ' '  Son, 
give  me  thine  heart. "  It  is  out  of  the  heart  that 
the  issues  of  life  proceed.  If  the  heart  be  sur- 
rendered to  God,  and  be  as  a  result  the  dwelling 


40  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

place  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  then  the  affections  will 
be  set  upon  the  things  which  are  above,  and 
then  true  spirituality  will  make  itself  evident 
in  all  speech  and  conduct. 

Further,  it  is  this  heart  surrendered  to  Christ 
which  is  the  object  of  all  Christian  effort,  and 
it  is  the  union  of  Christ-filled  hearts,  which  from 
the  human  side  not  only  produces  Christian 
churches,  but  also  determines  their  nature  and 
purposes.  First  of  these  purposes  stands  the 
salvation  of  souls.  A  spiritual  church  cannot 
but  seek  to  save  the  lost,  for  the  saved  sinners 
who  compose  it  know  both  the  need  and  the 
value  of  salvation.  Second  of  these  purposes 
stands  the  effort  after  righteousness  in  all  con- 
duct. A  spiritual  church  cannot  but  hunger 
after  righteousness,  for  its  members  will  seek 
always  for  themselves  and  for  others,  increase 
in  that  holiness  which  our  Saviour  commends 
and  commands.  Salvation  is  from  sin  to 
righteousness,  righteousness  first  in  the  indi- 
vidual, and  then  through  the  individual  in  so- 
ciety. 

This  is  not  the  way  of  the  worldly  man  in  the 
work  of  securing  human  welfare.  He  prefers 
to  begin  on  the  outside,  to  deal  solely  with  things 
external.  The  heart  is  to  him  a  thing  indif- 
ferent. His  methods  are  chiefly  those  of  legis- 
lation, and  his  weapons  those  of  compulsion. 
Spirituality  as  a  quality  of  mind  and  heart  he 
knows  nothing  about.  He  understands  dollars 
and  laws  and  the  use  of  force,  but  not  souls. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  41 

How  different  the  Christian  and  the  Christian 
churches!  They  know  the  value  of  souls,  the 
purposes  of  Christ,  the  reality  of  things  spirit- 
ual, the  power  of  persuasion  backed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  And  for  all  that  the  word  spirituality 
stands  for,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  stands 
for.  It  stands  for  the  men  who  use  the  things 
of  earth  as  stepping  stones  to  higher  and 
heavenly  things.  It  stands  for  the  church  as 
the  witness  to  Christ,  to  his  truth,  to  his  sal- 
vation, and  to  the  hopes  which  center  in  him  for 
a  redeemed  humanity  and  a  transformed  world. 
And  the  instruments  for  the  work  to  be  ac- 
complished are  not  legislation  and  force,  but 
the  powers  of  Christian  teaching  and  per- 
suasion, sustained  and  guided  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  The  Presbyterian  Church  believes  that 
the  church  should  keep  to  its  own  sphere  of  la- 
bor, should  seek  to  bring  men  to  follow  Christ, 
because  they  believe  in  and  love  him,  and  then 
the  law  of  God,  the  Ten  Commandments  in- 
cluded, written  upon  the  tablets  of  the  human 
heart,  will  inevitably  result  in  righteousness 
both  for  the  individual  and  the  nation. 

IV.  This  Presbyterian  Church  stands  also  for 
the  unity  of  the  church.  When  it  was  or- 
ganized in  1706  it  stood  for  the  undivided  Pres- 
byterian forces  of  the  American  colonies.  It 
has  also  been  always  true  to  the  grand  definition 
of  the  Church  Universal  contained  in  the  West- 
minster Confession,  and  as  a  result  has  always 
acknowledged  as  brethren  all  who  believe  in, 


42  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

love,  and  serve  Jesus  Christ.  Divisions  there 
have  been  in  the  church,  but  they  sooner  or 
later  have  been,  or  will  be,  healed.  The  spirit 
of  our  church  is  the  spirit  of  unity,  and  to-day 
this  spirit  is  widely  disseminated  in  our  land. 
This  is  the  age  not  of  division,  but  of  unity. 
Presbyterians  respond  largely  to  the  attractive 
influences  which  are  abroad,  and  which  tend  to 
the  general  acknowledgment  of  Christian 
brotherhood,  and  to  cooperation  in  all  Christian 
work.  The  church,  for  instance,  initiated  the 
organized  movement  which  resulted  in  the 
world-wide  Presbyterian  alliance.  It  also  re- 
sponded promptly  and  by  overwhelming  major- 
ities to  the  proposal  for  the  reunion  recently 
consummated  with  the  Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rian Church. 

The  movement  for  the  federation  of  the 
Protestant  churches  of  this  continent  was  like- 
wise begun  by  our  denomination.  And  what- 
ever may  be  true  of  American  Protestant 
churches  generally,  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America  does  stand  for 
the  conviction  that  the  2,200,000  communicants 
in  the  nine  Presbyterian  and  Eeformed  churches 
in  this  country  should  unite  in  one  church,  not 
for  pride  of  numbers,  but  for  the  added  power 
which  union  ever  brings.  The  churches  are  one 
in  faith  and  church  order.  They  stand  for  the 
same  great  moral  and  spiritual  ideas.  God 
hasten  the  day  when  they  shall  stand  shoulder 
to  shoulder  in  the  Lord's  work,  for  in  union 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  43 

there  is  not  only  strength,  but  also  divine  power 
and  the  divine  blessing. 

V.  Another  feature  of  the  life  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  is  its  evangelistic  and  mis- 
sionary activity.  From  its  first  establishment 
on  American  soil  it  has  been  eager  and  earnest 
in  seeking  the  salvation  of  souls.  The  first 
presbytery,  at  its  first  fully  recorded  meet- 
ing in  1707,  took  steps  to  send  missionaries  to 
what  were  regarded  as  the  spiritually  destitute 
places  of  the  country.  And  from  that  day  to 
this  our  church  has  been  in  the  van  in  all  evan- 
gelistic and  missionary  work.  The  home  mis- 
sions of  the  church  are  to-day  located  in  every 
state  and  territory  of  our  own  land,  and  its 
foreign  missions  are  found  in  fifteen  different 
countries.  As  President  Benjamin  Harrison 
said:  "Though  it  has  made  no  boast  or  shout, 
the  Presbyterian  Church  has  yet  been  an  ag- 
gressive church;  it  has  been  a  missionary 
church  from  the  beginning." 

Would  we  have  yet  greater  success  as  a 
church,  would  we  make  the  future  bright  with 
the  triumphs  of  the  gospel,  would  we  be  true 
to  our  past  and  to  our  character,  there  must  yet 
be  more  zealous  cultivation  of  the  evangelistic 
and  missionary  spirit  both  among  our  ministers 
and  members.  Especially  must  earnest  work 
be  done  in  our  own  land,  in  connection  with  the 
religious  condition  of  our  adult  male  popula- 
tion. There  are  to-day  in  the  United  States 
12,000,000  of  adult  males,  nearly  two  thirds  of 


44  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

the  whole  number,  who  are  not  in  direct  con- 
nection with  any  church  bearing  the  name  of 
Christian,  either  Protestant  or  Catholic.  The 
masses  of  unconverted*  men  in  our  cities,  in 
country  districts,  at  the  polls,  are  walls  against 
which  moral  reforms  and  religious  forces  beat 
often  in  vain.  By  its  history,  by  its  character, 
our  church  is  a  church  for  men  as  well  as  for 
women,  and  it  must  give  itself  to  systematic 
effort  for  the  evangelization  of  men,  would  it 
in  any  degree  meet  responsibility,  and  make 
sure  the  moral  future  of  the  nation,  and  of  the 
individuals  which  compose  it.  America,  as  has 
been  well  said,  is  another  name  for  opportun- 
ity, and  that  opportunity  means  for  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  persistent  earnest,  all-embrac- 
ing evangelism,  the  preaching  and  teaching  of 
the  "whosoever  will"  gospel  to  every  creature. 

VI.  The  Presbyterian  Church  has  been  also 
noted  in  every  generation  for  its  fidelity  to  its 
convictions  as  to  truth.  It  has  magnified  the 
word  of  God  above  all  other  sources  and  forms 
of  truth,  and  as  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  conduct.  It  has  persistently  acknowledged 
the  divine  Christ  as  the  only  Saviour  of  sin- 
ners, and  resolutely  maintained  his  unique  au- 
thority as  the  only  Lord  of  the  conscience.  In 
thus  doing,  it  has  honored  God  and  respected 
man. 

It  is  true  that  its  fidelity  to  truth  has  been 
one  cause  of  complaint  against  it  by  some  per- 
sons.    The  fact  is  that  our  church  has  been  and 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  45 

is,  at  once  the  narrowest  and  the  broadest  of 
the  Christian  denominations.  It  is  narrow,  but 
only  as  the  word  of  God  is  narrow.  It  insists, 
and  rightly  so,  that  there  is  a  broad  way 
which  leads  to  ruin,  and  a  narrow  way  which 
leads  to  life  eternal.  It  is  unqualified  in  its 
declaration  that  for  adults,  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  irrevocable  condition  of  sal- 
vation, and  that  apart  from  Christ,  men  are 
without  hope.  It  is  narrow  in  its  declarations 
of  Scripture  truth  as  some  weak  men  count  nar- 
rowness, because  truth  is  always  intolerant  of 
falsehood.  It  is  narrow,  in  short,  because  it 
has  been  and  is,  honest,  and  intelligent,  and  obe- 
dient to  God  in  Christ. 

But  it  is  also  broad,  broad  in  its  sympathies, 
broad  in  its  views  of  the  possibilities  of  salva- 
tion for  a  lost  world;  broad  in  its  insistence 
that  the  will  of  that  God,  who  is  at  once  a  Sov- 
ereign and  a  Father,  is  the  controlling  factor 
in  the  destiny  of  man ;  broad  in  including  within 
the  certainties  of  salvation  all  infants  dying 
in  infancy;  broad  in  its  offer  of  salvation 
through  the  gospel  to  every  creature;  broad  in 
its  recognition  of  all  Christians  as  brethren  in 
Christ  and  of  all  men  as  possible  sharers  in 
the  joys  and  glories  of  the  life  everlasting. 

Narrow  is  our  church  because  it  is  true  to 
the  law  of  God,  and  broad  because  it  is  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  love  of  God. 

This  narrowness  and  this  breadth  have  char- 
acterized  our  church  in   all  its  past  history. 


46  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

Emphasizing  both  the  law  and  the  love  of  God, 
both  his  justice  and  his  mercy,  both  his  abso- 
lute sovereignty  and  his  matchless  grace  in  Je- 
sus Christ,  it  has  been  increasingly  a  power  for 
the  moral  welfare  of  this  nation,  for  the  salva- 
tion of  souls,  and  for  the  inbringing  of  Christ's 
kingdom  in  this  land ;  yea,  throughout  the  world. 

Sound  views  of  truth  are  vital  to  a  true  na- 
tional life,  and  the  moral  and  religious  tone  of 
this  nation  has  been  and  is  dependent  upon  cor- 
rect conceptions  of  what  the  Scriptures  teach 
concerning  God,  and  what  duty  God  requires 
of  man.  And  not  the  least  of  the  things  char- 
acteristic of  our  church  has  been  its  defense 
and  dissemination  of  the  truth  of  God  as  the 
supreme  standard  of  human  conduct  and  the 
vitalizing  power  of  the  republic.  This  nation 
owes  an  incalculable  debt  to  the  Presbyterian 
and  some  other  churches,  for  the  tenacity  and 
vigor  with  which  they  have  maintained  the  fun- 
damentals of  the  Christian  system  of  truth. 
May  this  fidelity  to  truth  characterize  ever  this 
church  of  ours  from  generation  to  generation. 

There  are  other  things  than  those  thus  in- 
dicated for  which  the  Presbyterian  Church 
stands,  such,  for  instance,  as  its  relation  to  law 
and  order;  to  popular  education;  to  philan- 
thropy ;  to  general  Christian  doctrine ;  to  moral 
reform;  and  to  man's  freedom  of  access  to  God 
in  worship.  Into  these  we  cannot  enter.  Suf- 
ficient is  it  to  emphasize  to  this  contention  the 
six  points  named  as  of  vital  and  present  inter- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  47 

est.  They  are  concisely  these.  The  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America 
stands  for,  among  other  things: 

1.  Loyalty  to  the  priceless  American  heritage 
of  individual  liberty  and  popular  government. 

2.  The  right  and  duty  of  every  Christian  to 
be  a  worker  for  Christ. 

3.  The  spiritual  character,  and  purposes  of 
the  church,  as  Christ's  agent  for  the  salvation 
of  men  and  the  regeneration  of  the  world. 

4.  The  unity  of  the  church,  emphasizing  the 
need  that  Christians  should  strive  not  against 
one  another,  but  with  one  another,  for  the  do- 
ing of  Christ 's  work  in  the  world. 

5.  That  a  living  church  must  evidence  its 
life  by  its  evangelistic  and  missionary  work. 

6.  That  the  supreme  duty  of  the  church  is 
loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures as  the  law  of  Christ  for  both  faith  and 
conduct. 

May  all  these  things  abound  increasingly  in 
our  midst  as  a  church.  May  they  permeate 
with  increasing  power  all  Christian  churches. 
May  they  lead  to  thought,  speech,  and  conduct, 
here  and  elsewhere  which  shall  redound  to  the 
glory  of  Christ  and  the  welfare  of  man. 

Ah!  when  I  think  of  the  church  and  the  na- 
tion, of  the  church  and  the  world,  of  the  world 
and  its  sin  and  degradation,  of  the  church  in 
its  comparatively  dormant  condition — above  all, 
when  I  think  of  the  church  and  its  men,  and  of 
the  possibilities  stored  up  in  the  men  of  this 


48  THE  PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

land  and  of  other  lands  in  connection  with  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  welfare  of  mankind,  I 
think  of  the  old  legend  of  the  death-struck 
city. 

"A  great  Eastern  city  it  was,  besieged  by 
fierce  enemies,  and  about  to  send  forth  its  war- 
riors to  sweep  away,  as  with  a  whirlwind  rush, 
the  hosts  of  the  invader.  From  the  camp  of 
the  enemy,  however,  there  issued  a  magician, 
who,  by  the  waving  of  his  wand,  conjoined  with 
the  sorcerer's  arts,  turned  citizen  and  warrior 
alike — all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town — into 
stone.  Everything  in  which  there  was  life  be- 
came as  if  dead.  Mailed  knights,  about  to 
mount  their  steeds,  full  clad  for  battle,  stood 
motionless,  with  hands  upon  the  pommel  of  the 
saddle.  The  infantry  drawn  up  in  serried 
ranks,  were  like  so  many  marble  statues.  The 
gathering  throngs  of  men,  women,  and  children 
stood  as  if  they  were  groups  carved  in  stone. 
All  were  silent,  motionless,  and  powerless — 
the  prey  of  the  enemy. 

"Suddenly  along  the  lifeless  street,  darted  a 
youth  with  radiant  countenance,  bearing  aloft 
a  golden  trumpet.  He  stood  in  the  midst  of  the 
motionless  throngs,  citizens,  and  warriors.  He 
lifted  the  trumpet  to  his  lips,  and  one  long 
clear,  ringing  blast  sounded  out  upon  the  air. 
Mightier  than  the  arts  of  the  sorcerer,  the  peal 
of  that  trumpet  of  gold!  At  the  sound,  life 
leapt  once  more  in  the  cold  veins  of  death. 
The     knights     sprang    to     the     saddle.     The 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  49 

long  line  of  infantry  moved  out  through  the 
eity  gates.  Amid  the  ringing  cheers  of  the  pop- 
ulace, the  warriors  of  the  city  swept  upon  the 
invader  to  his  utter  overthrow  and  flight. " 

This  legend  pictures,  in  part,  the  conditions 
prevalent  at  this  time  in  the  church  of  Christ. 
The  icy  coldness  of  spiritual  inactivity  is  ap- 
parent in  many  of  her  members.  Men  who 
should  be  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ  stand 
like  marble  statues,  struck  into  utter  deadness. 
There  they  are,  inert,  motionless,  powerless, 
the  prey  and  the  laughter  of  the  hosts  of  evil. 
Oh,  for  the  long,  clear  call  to  service,  sounded 
forth  upon  the  gospel's  trumpet  of  gold,  rous- 
ing to  life,  to  activity,  and  to  conflict,  the  mil- 
lions of  inactive  Christian  men!  God  of  our 
fathers,  and  our  God,  grant  us  in  this  conven- 
tion thy  Spirit  of  power,  and  do  thou  marshal 
and  lead  thine  hosts  to  victory,  and  crown  in 
this  land  and  in  the  world,  thy  Christ  as  Lord 
of  all! 


IV 

THE  BOY  AND  THE  CHURCH 

BY  PATTERSON  DUBOIS 

The  subject  which  I  am  asked  to  bring  be- 
fore the  men  of  the  church  is  one  both  of  much 
complexity  and  of  capital  importance.  Its  con- 
structive treatment  demands  criticism  and  calls 
for  a  willingness  to  face  facts.  It  points  to  a 
partial  relinquishment  of  traditional  ideas  and 
methods,  and  a  correspondingly  partial  recon- 
struction of  our  organizations  for  religious  ed- 
ucation. 

There  is  one  respect,  at  least,  in  which  the 
church  and  the  Head  of  the  church  seem  al- 
ways to  have  been  more  or  less  at  variance. 
Jesus,  in  the  presence  of  men,  appears  never  to 
have  lost  his  educational  consciousness;  the 
church,  especially  our  modern  Protestant 
Church,  seems  never  to  have  fully  gained  such 
a  consciousness. 

Whatever  we  may  say  about  the  adult,  it  is 
certain  that  the  church  has  never  made  ade- 
quate effort  to  understand  or  to  provide  for  the 
child  or  the  youth.  Its  point  of  view  is  that 
of  the  adult.     It  has  neither  provided  for  the 

50 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  51 

child's  or  youth's  natural  environment  and  em- 
ployment, nor  for  his  being  let  properly  alone 
and  protected  in  his  critical  time  of  self-wrest- 
ling. The  immediate  blame  rests  chiefly  on  the 
home,  it  is  true,  but  the  church  is  a  potent  influ- 
ence over  the  home  in  such  matters.  Too  often 
the  church,  in  a  proper  zeal,  but  mistaken  judg- 
ment, minimizes  the  home  duty  by  drawing  the 
youngsters  too  constantly  from  it,  to  gather  in 
"meetings."  The  church  has  a  duty  to  the  boy 
in  his  own  home. 

Strictly  speaking,  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
the  boy.  The  child  is  not  a  minature  man ;  the 
adolescent  youth  is  a  very  different  creature 
from  either  child  or  man. 

I  am  rather  fond  of  quoting  that  far-sighted 
statement  of  Michelet's,  "Xo  consecrated  ab- 
surdity would  have  stood  its  ground  if  the  man 
had  not  silenced  the  objection  of  the  child." 
Let  us  add  also  the  youth.  And  I  am  sorry  to 
say  that  the  church,  as  well  as  the  home,  has 
been  only  too  great  a  factor  in  this  repression. 

This  "objection  of  the  child"  is  often  but  a 
semi-conscious  assertion  of  the  rights  of  per- 
sonal development ;  that  of  the  adolescent  youth 
is  much  more  concretely  and  acutely  felt. 
Truly,  "the  birth  of  a  child  is  the  imprisonment 
of  a  soul."  Standing,  as  I  long  have,  for  the 
protection  and  emancipation  of  the  young  child, 
I  nevertheless  believe  that  adolescence  is  the 
most  complicated,  and  a  not  less  educationally 
critical,  period  of  life. 


52  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

How  deeply  lias  the  church  realized  its  re- 
sponsibility under  such  conditions?  The  rec- 
ord, notwithstanding  our  progress,  is  too  much 
one  of  misfits  and  maladjustments — alike  gro- 
tesque and  serious. 

Except  in  rare  individual  cases,  the  adult 
point  of  view  has  ruled  from  pulpit  to  primary 
room.  Little  children  whose  right  it  is  to  re- 
ceive impressions  chiefly  atmospherically  are 
put  to  Book  abreast  with  their  elders  and  dazed 
with  a  far-fetched  "  symbolism "  or  with  ab- 
stractions altogether  foreign  to  childhood  expe- 
rience. We  wonder  why  the  adolescent  boy 
and  girl  have  fled  the  school,  not  realizing  that 
we  ought  rather  to  wonder  if  it  were  otherwise. 
As  Dr.  McKinley  has  beautifully  shown,  the 
parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  is  but  the  natural 
allegory  of  adolescence.  It  is  the  maladjust- 
ment that  the  youth  flees ;  he  is  escaping  from 
the  cling  of  the  withering  leaf  of  childhood  in 
search  of  a  place  for  the  pressing  bud  of  the 
new  boy.  During  the  eight  or  ten  years  from 
the  age  of  thirteen  onward,  he  must  be  both 
met  and  let  alone.     Here  is  your  problem. 

Again,  in  the  young  people 's  societies  we  are 
making  premature  "leaders"  of  children  and 
youth,  and  prematurely  pressing  the  reticent 
age  to  declare  itself.  We  are  taking  out  of  the 
school  functions  which  rightly  belong  to  it.  We 
are  "training"  our  teachers  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  child  and  yet,  in  effect,  prescribing  that 
"silencing  the  objection  of  the  child"  in  our 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  53 

curricula,  our  unnatural  groupings,  our  bookish- 
ness,  our  lack  of  manual  and  physical  methods, 
our  shyness  of  topical  breadth,  our  ingeniously 
absurd  acrostics  and  initial  letters,  our  biblical 
limitations,  our  catechism  memorizing,  alas !  our 
very  hymns  and  prayers.  In  practice  we  thus 
train  the  teachers  away  from  their  required 
theory. 

Now  as  to  the  church's  adult  point  of  view. 
Let  me  give  right  here  a  concrete  evidence  of 
it.  Admitting  exceptions  you  will  see  that  the 
child  is,  by  our  usual  practice,  a  nobody. 

You  pastors  and  clerks  of  session  or  other 
elders  tell  me,  When  you  receive  parents  into 
your  churches  by  certificate,  how  often  do  you 
find  the  names  of  their  baptized  children  re- 
corded as  the  blank  directs  on  the  back  of  the 
certificate?  Tell  me  again,  Ought  not  their 
names  to  be  on  the  face  of  it?  How  are  you 
officially  to  know  that  you  have  new  baptized 
children  in  your  oversight!  What  were  they 
baptized  for  ?  The  infant  baptisms  are  annually 
reported  to  presbytery.  Do  you  know  the  num- 
ber of  such  children  that  you  dismiss?  Does 
the  Assembly  ask  you  to  report  the  total  bap- 
tized children,  as  it  does  the  communicants? 
No.  Infants  are  virtually  baptized  into  official 
oblivion.  Is  not  our  practice  in  effect  a  denial 
of  our  doctrine?  But  these  are  only  children 
to  a  church  dominated  by  the  adult  point  of 
view. 

We  are  fond  of  repeating  the  apostle's  ad- 


54  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

vice  to  bring  up  our  children  in  "the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord."  But  how  much 
study  have  we  given  to  what  constitutes  nur- 
ture? Are  we  not  too  prone  to  assume  that  our 
adult  formulas  and  experiences  are  nourishing 
to  the  child  soul  simply  because  they  are  so  to 
the  adult?  How  fairly  has  the  church  studied 
the  spiritual  hygiene?  To  say  that  the  Spirit 
will  do  the  work  is  to  insult  Him  who  has  given 
us  powers  and  tools  to  work  with.  It  is  to 
throw  back  into  his  face  his  gift  of  our  powers. 
It  is  indolent  and  irreverent. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  church 
has  hardly  made  a  breach  in  the  wall  which 
screens  the  natures  of  childhood  and  youth  from 
common  or  careless  sight.  The  inference  is 
that  it  has  been  derelict  and  stands  accountable. 

True  we  have  made  strides  in  the  right  direc- 
tion. We  have  able  writers  not  only  on  early 
childhood,  but  on  adolescence,  and  especially  on 
the  growing  boy.  It  is  this  last  phase  of  young 
life  to  which  I  particularly  refer  in  this  paper 
— limits  forbidding  anything  further.  Just  in 
brief,  and  for  suggestion  let  us  summarize  a 
few  leading  characteristics  of  this  turbulent  and 
topsy-turvy  era  of  adolescence. 

Authorities  differ  in  their  sub-division  of  ado- 
lescent periods  and  their  concomitant  character- 
istics, and  most  boys  differ  at  some  points  with 
the  authorities.  Dr.  Samuel  B.  Haslett  makes 
this  good  general  statement:  "Adolescence  is 
in  a  real  sense  a  new  birth    .     .     .     The  in- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  55 

dividual  is  born  at  this  time  into  possession  of 
new  bodily  powers  and  functions,  new  lines 
of  activity  for  his  increased  muscular  force, 
new  social  spheres  and  increasing  demands  up- 
on his  social  capabilities,  new  emotional  expe- 
riences that  widen  his  life  and  add  to  its  im- 
port; new  thoughts,  ideals,  ambitions,  and  ten- 
dencies that  enrich  life. ' ' 

And  Dr.  Forbush,  concerning  the  emergence 
from  childhood:  "The  last  nascencies  of  the 
instincts,  the  completion  of  the  habits,  the  psy- 
chical crisis,  the  infancy  of  the  will,  the  birth  of 
the  social  nature,  the  disparity  between  the  pas- 
sions and  the  appetites,  and  the  judgment  and 
self-control,  and  the  fact  that  for  normal  and 
abnormal  boys  alike,  this  is  the  close  of  the 
plastic  age,  make  this  the  most  critical  period 
of  life  and  one  which  should  converge  upon  it- 
self the  wisest  and  strongest  social  and  moral 
influences." 

These  are  conditions  which  the  church  must 
meet.  Now  a  little  more  in  particular :  Author- 
ities divide  adolescence  variously,  but  usu- 
ally into  three  periods  covering  ten  or  twelve 
years  from  the  age  of  twelve  up.  Some  draw 
lines  at  twelve,  sixteen,  eighteen,  twenty-four; 
others  at  twelve,  fifteen,  twenty,  twenty-four. 
Some  label  these  as  times  of  ferment,  crisis, 
reconstruction;  others,  as  nascent,  middle,  ad- 
vanced; still  others,  as  physical,  neutral,  social 
or  vocational ;  others  again,  as  time  when  youth 
seeks  freedom,  learns  the  unity  and  meaning  of 


56  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

life,  comes  to  reconstruction  and  social  adjust- 
ment. There  is  a  general  agreement  that  the 
middle  period  (about  sixteen)  is  the  critical  and 
focal  psychological  point.  The  instinct  and 
motor  level  is  supplanted  by  higher  levels  of 
power.  There  is  quick  depression  and  quick 
rising.  Dr.  Forbush  calls  twelve  and  sixteen 
the  points  for  personal  work,  "the  former  for 
acquaintance  and  association,  the  latter  for  rest- 
lessness and  doubt."  The  reconstruction  pe- 
riod of  sixteen  to  eighteen  will  need  the  friend- 
ship formed  at  twelve,  and  a  true  manly  friend- 
ship is  all  important. 

At  the  beginning  of  adolescence  the  sexes 
separate.  The  club  forms.  Physical  energy 
waxes.  Then  comes  an  era  of  discussion,  en- 
larged views,  confutation,  and  a  feeling  for  in- 
dependence. A  little  later,  emotions  reach  to- 
ward their  height  of  storm  and  stress.  Absorp- 
tion and  reception  give  way  to  construction. 
Self-estrangement  from  childhood  naturally  re- 
sulted in  strange  performances.  Now,  like  Paul, 
the  middle  youth  is  hunting  himself  in  the  seclu- 
sion of  the  wilderness.  He  is  getting  ready  for 
membership  in  society.  He  is  full  of  schemes, 
disappointments,  failures,  conquests.  He  is 
glimpsing  the  meaning  of  life.  He  is  acquiring 
orientation.  A  few  years  of  this  turbulent 
groping  and  the  prodigal  feels  the  homing  in- 
stinct, becoming  more  stable  and  seeing  more 
clearly  ahead.     Maturity  takes  on  its  foreshade 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  57 

now.  The  sexes  renew  an  interest  in  each 
other. 

It  is  unnecessary,  as  indeed  it  is  impossible, 
here  to  do  more  than  thus  barely  indicate  these 
complex  conditions  as  a  reason  why  the  church, 
in  its  Sunday  schools  and  young  people's  so- 
cieties, is  wondering  at  its  inefficiency.  The 
church  in  its  formulations  and  disciplines  and 
expectations  has  made  little  or  no  account  of 
the  very  important  matter  of  personal  and  tem- 
peramental, to  say  nothing  of  developmental, 
differences  either  of  which  alone  accounts  for 
much  that  has  seemed  unaccountable. 

Letting  go  of  the  boy  and  the  youth,  for  the 
moment,  let  us  ask  what  we  are  here  for.  The 
pastor  of  a  very  large  and  remarkably  energetic 
church  said  to  me  not  long  ago  that  we  have 
a  great  many  organizations  within  our  church 
and  yet  we  do  not  get  what  we  want.  Most  of 
us  know  how  true  this  is.  Most  of  us  will  agree 
that  novelty  is  an  element  of  success  and  that 
old  forms  of  associations  die  to  give  rise  to  new 
forms.  And  yet  beyond  question  the  average 
individual  church  is  over-organized.  The  ques- 
tion is,  Do  we  now  want  another  organization? 
The  answer  lies  in  the  answer  to  another  ques- 
tion :  Is  there  any  serious  describable  weakness 
in  the  church  which  a  new  organization  might 
help  to  overcome  with  more  hope  of  success  than 
can  be  done  in  any  other  way? 

Let  us  see.  What  is  the  greatest  drawback 
to  the  progress  of  Christianity?    Is  it  the  sa- 


58  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

loon,  the  trust?  Is  it  Buddhism,  Confucianism, 
Mohammedanism,  Cannibalism?  Is  it  alcohol, 
or  the  cigarette?  No;  it  is  primarily  none  of 
these  things.  It  is  your  personal  life  and  mine. 
More  specifically,  it  is  your  morals  and  mine. 

The  church  has  put  too  small  an  estimate  on 
morals — which  is  simply  the  relation  of  man  to 
man  as  members  of  a  divinely  ordered  society. 
We  have  been  satisfied  to  talk  too  much  about 
"  spirituality ' '  without  knowing  exactly  what 
we  meant  by  this.  (I  am  not  discussing  the 
atonement  or  what  is  often  called  "the  plan 
of  salvation."  That  is  another  subject.)  We 
do  know  that  Jesus  explicitly  told  a  rich  young 
man,  "If  thou  wouldst  enter  into  life,  keep  the 
commandments. ' '  The  one  unobserved  duty  of 
that  man  was  that  of  social  equity  or  justice, 
which  practically  included  all  of  the  last  six 
commandments.  He  could  not  enter  into  life 
neglecting  his  social  morality.  The  rendering 
unto  Caesar  of  that  which  is  Caesar's  is  an  es- 
sential element  of  the  rendering  unto  God  of 
that  which  is  God's. 

Again,  see  how  the  epistles  teem  with  moral 
injunctions  as  though  the  writers  were  not 
afraid  that  somebody  might,  by  laying  great 
stress  on  morals,  become  guilty  of  "mere  mo- 
rality"— of  which  the  church  has  made  a  bogy 
and  has  been  so  unduly  afraid. 

Now,  is  it  not  time  for  us  to  make  a  visible 
organized  effort  in  the  interest  of  a  finer  moral 
discrimination  and  of  a  truer  moral  courage? 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION 


59 


Men  are  more  closely  affiliated  with  the  busi- 
ness of  the  world  and  hence  more  liable  to  its 
subtle  temptations  than  women.  The  line  be- 
tween the  church  and  the  world,  between  relig- 
ious and  secular,  becomes  more  and  more  shad- 
owy as  all  dividing  lines  do  in  a  healthy  social 
evolution.  When  a  man  is  no  longer  able  to 
separate  his  business  from  his  religion  he  will 
be  attaining  to  the  sort  of  Christianity  which 
Christ  was  recommending  to  the  young  man 
who  had  great  possessions. 

There  are  many  men's  societies  in  our  church 
quite  rightly  with  different  aims  and  methods. 
But  my  contention  is  that  another  organization 
in  the  church  at  large  is  only  justified  by  a 
dominating  fundamental  idea  which  most  ap- 
propriately men  should  carry  with  them  from 
the  church  into  the  strenuous  inter-activity  of 
the  world's  business.  This  dominating  idea  I 
would  phase  as  the  Social  Conscience.  By  this 
I  mean  that  the  ultimate  practical  purpose  of 
the  organization  as  distinct  from  what  is  known 
as  the  rule  of  "service,"  is  to  whet  the  con- 
science to  a  keener  and  more  constant  concep- 
tion of  the  moral  relation  of  man  to  man  by 
reason  of  his  membership  in  a  social  world.  It 
stands  for  the  moral  function  of  religion — 
Christianity  being  the  only  religion  demanding 
true  morality. 

It  makes  little  difference  whether  the  individ- 
ual organization  throws  its  emphasis  upon  mere 
sociability  or  upon  civics,  or  upon  instructional 


60  THE  PRESBYTERIA1ST   BROTHERHOOD 

courses,  or  Bible  or  mission  study, — the  ethical 
idea  should  always  give  the  occasion  its  flavor. 
This  does  not  mean  that  every  paper  that  is 
read  or  conversation  that  is  held  or  lecture  that 
is  heard  should  discuss  ethics  as  such.  It  is 
rather  that  the  organization  should  influence  the 
world  Christward  by  a  directer,  more  inwoven 
practical  touch,  than  is  possible  to  pulpit,  Bible 
class,  or  prayer-meeting.  This  does  not  mean 
street  preaching  or  even  the  personal  effort  to 
bring  some  one  to  church,  but  rather  by  moral 
fruitage,  to  make  the  world  see  the  Christ  and 
admit  that  the  church  is  worth  belonging  to. 

We  hear  a  great  deal  said  now-a-days  about 
personal  work  in  bringing  others  to  Christ.  The 
sort  of  moral  blindness  and  moral  timidity  that 
we  see  in  the  lives  of  most  Christians  may  well 
make  one  wonder  why  the  non-church-going 
should  respond  readily  to  such  personal  ap- 
peals. Do  we  not  owe  a  "personal  work"  to 
our  fellow  Christians  in  the  matter  of  the  mend- 
ing of  their  morals  f  And  if  so,  can  we  not  by 
organization  help  ourselves  to  mend  our  own? 
Is  not  this  really  the  surest  way  to  make  the 
world  covet  a  church  membership  ? 

When  William  Penn  organized  the  colony 
of  Pennsylvania  he  called  it  a  "holy  experi- 
ment." Beligion,  with  him,  was  a  matter  re- 
sulting in  political  and  social  morality.  If  we 
were  saturated  with  this  moving  idea  of  the 
Social  Conscience  to  the  extent  of  being  con- 
trolled by  it,  would  not  our  civilization  take  on 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  61 

a  very  different  aspect?  We  should  be  more 
concerned  to  think  any  proposition  through  to 
its  moral  result  just  as  the  business  man  tries  to 
think  a  proposition  through  to  the  financial  re- 
sult. We  are  generally  too  undiscerning  or  too 
cowardly  to  look  far  ahead  for  moral  outcomes. 

While  I  believe  that  a  men's  organization 
should  exist  for  a  specific  purpose,  apart  from 
attendance  upon  church  services,  prayer  meet- 
ings or  Sunday  schools,  it  is  very  important  for 
all  such  societies  to  meet  for  the  study  of 
Christianity,  historical  or  practical,  as  Bible  or 
mission  classes,  on  Sunday,  and  in  connection 
with  the  school  as  such.  And  this  brings  me 
back  to  take  up  our  adolescent  youth,  who  I 
believe  may  be  saved  to  the  school  and  to  the 
church  through  the  men's  Brotherhood  meeting 
as  a  Bible  class,  as  I  shall  show  a  little  later. 

Although  it  is  most  usual,  as  I  have  said,  to 
divide  adolescence  into  three  periods  of  devel- 
opment, I  want  for  purposes  of  discussion  here 
to  draw  a  line  through  it  about  the  middle  or 
end  of  the  eighteenth  year.  At  this  age,  child- 
hood and  early  youth  are  shaken  off  and  any 
school  continuance  of  the  same  general  curricu- 
lum, discipline,  or  other  methodic  treatment  of 
the  youth,  is  likely  to  produce  a  revolt.  More- 
over, at  this  age  he  is  straining  to  sight  his 
manhood.  He  is  orienting  himself  manward. 
He  prefers  to  associate  with  fellows  a  little 
older  rather  than  younger  than  himself. 
Though  I  do  not  speak  from  actual  experiment, 


62  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

I  cannot  but  believe  as  the  result  of  much  in- 
vestigation and  discussion  with  experts,  that 
the  youth  in  this  later  adolescent  stage  would 
frequently  accept  the  compliment  of  admission 
to  a  men's  Brotherhood  Sunday  class  even 
though  under  certain  limitations  of  member- 
ship. 

Full-grown  men  ought  to  be  glad  to  have  this 
sub-manhood  with  them.  It  would  be  good  for 
them  to  keep  touch  with  the  later  " teens' ' 
and  to  treat  them  with  equal  respect.  The  ad- 
vantages to  the  young  fellows  would  be  that 
they  would  come  into  the  freedom  and  latitude 
of  men 's  thought  yet  under  a  certain  controlling 
guidance  of  maturity.  They  would  also  escape 
the  felt  ignominy  of  being  in  a  little  group, 
perhaps  under  a  lady  teacher,  precisely  as  they 
were  in  childhood  or  earlier  youth  when  they 
were  undifferentiated  from  other  classes  of  girls 
and  lesser  boys  around  them.  And  again  the 
reticent,  striving,  secretive,  but  not  irreligious, 
adolescent  could  be  at  once  more  secluded  and 
more  stimulated  toward  that  social  conscience 
which  ought  now  to  assume  the  form  of  a  defi- 
nite will  control.  The  boy's  expansion  would 
be  recognized,  his  maturity  visible  as  a  goal, 
and  present  conceit  unoffensively  dampened. 

Some  boys  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  and  up- 
ward would  hesitate  to  go  in  with  men  in  their 
early  or  even  later  maturity.  But  there  would 
be  no  better  educational  exercise  for  the  men 
than  to  take  the  boys  into  their  Sunday  sittings, 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  63 

treat  them  not  patronizingly  nor  as  overseers, 
but  as  companions,  without  cognizance  of  age 
limitations.  Boys  of  this  period  like  to  asso- 
ciate with  those  who  are  slightly  superior — 
it  makes  them  superior.  But  they  must  not  be 
forced  into  conspicuous  positions  or  made  to 
declare  themselves  unduly. 

This  means  the  reorganization  of  the  male 
Sunday  school  from  the  age  of  seventeen  or 
eighteen  upward.  All  small  classes  of  youths 
of  this  period  should  be  cleared  from  the  floor 
and  associated  with  the  men  of  the  Brother- 
hood. The  moral  idea  of  the  Brotherhood,  al- 
ready pointed  out,  will  help  to  give  fixity  and 
trend  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  unrest  of  the 
ambitious  adolescent  youth  by  suggestion  and 
in  direction.  This  is  that  partial  reorganiza- 
tion of  Sunday  school  of  which  I  spoke.  It  is 
offered  as  a  general  proposition,  with  full 
knowledge  of  its  limitations. 

So  much  for  the  big  boy.  As  to  the  little 
one,  the  church  must  stir  itself  to  take  on  a  true 
educational  consciousness,  after  the  manner  of 
the  Master,  meet  the  issues  fairly,  give  tradi- 
tion the  go-by,  get  away  from  the  stultifying 
adult  point  of  view,  sacrifice  vested  interests 
where  necessary,  and  nurture  the  hungry  boy 
with  a  healthy  atmosphere  and  assimilable  food. 
Small  natural  groups  are  in  order  here.  In 
short,  we  must  command  boy  nature  at  any  age 
by  obeying  boy  nature  at  that  age. 

A  closing  word.    A  Christian  Brotherhood 


64  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

must  be  brotherly  to  all  men.  It  must  be  a 
"chosen  people"  for  the  world's  salvation  as 
well  as  for  its  own.  I  reiterate  that  the 
Brotherhood  should  influence  the  world  by  a 
directer  and  more  intimate  practical  touch  than 
that  of  the  pulpit,  prayer-meeting,  or  Sunday 
school.  Any  one  who  has  sat  in  convention 
with  philanthropic  and  charity  organizations 
must  have  noted  how  keenly  they  probe  their 
problems,  as  compared  with  the  average  church- 
worker — just  as  devoted,  in  one  sense,  to  the 
same  humane  interests.  With  this  modern 
probing  spirit  the  men  of  the  church  ought  to 
organize  to  carry  a  "new  conscience  and  a  new 
set  of  virtues"  into  the  mart  of  the  world's 
business  and  carry  the  boys  with  them. 

Let  us  dine;  let  us  be  sociable;  let  us  lec- 
ture and  be  lectured  to ;  let  us  be  athletic ;  let  us 
study  missions,  the  Bible,  church  history,  ethics, 
literature,  accountancy,  civics;  let  us  promote 
the  Sunday  and  week-day  services;  but  let  us 
stand  for  a  more  discerning,  a  more  valorous 
morality,  a  more  constant  public  spirit,  a  more 
efficient  Social  Conscience. 

What  might  not  the  men  of  the  church  thus 
accomplish  in  ushering  in  the  reign  of  justice, 
in  purifying  and  dignifying  politics,  in  extirpa- 
ting fireside  gambling,  in  cleansing  the  tongue, 
in  raising  the  moral  standards  of  business,  in 
advancing  law  and  order  and  good  citizenship, 
in  suppressing  vice,  in  exemplifying  a  true  pa- 
triotism in  uplifting  the  ex-prisoner,  in  protect- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION 


65 


ing  child  life,  and  the  juvenile  court,  in  expos- 
ing the  industrial  conspiracy  against  children 
and  influencing  legislation  for  this  our  own 
most  valuable  "asset  of  the  nation"! 

Finally,  let  us  draw  the  boys  to  look  our  way, 
by  seeing  from  their  point  of  view  and  by  first 
looking  their  way.  This  was  our  Lord's  way. 
Let  us  live  for  the  rising  world. 


V 

THE  CHUECH  AND  THE  MAN 

BY  CHARLES  S.  HOLT 

When  a  layman  undertakes  to  discuss  two  of 
the  largest  things  in  the  world  under  any  limi- 
tation as  to  time,  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  re- 
sult will  be  both  incomplete  and  one-sided,  so 
that  more  must  be  supplied  than  can  possibly 
be  expressed,  if  any  good  is  to  come  of  it  all. 

Nor  is  there  room  here  for  detailed  discus- 
sion of  methods  or  for  incident  and  illustration. 
It  must  be  plain  thoughts,  plainly  expressed; 
and  the  value  of  the  address,  if  it  turns  out  to 
have  any,  will  be  found  I  am  sure  in  your  think- 
ing afterward  of  all  the  good  things  that  the 
speaker  failed  to  say. 

Our  subject  naturally  falls  into  two  broad 
lines  of  inquiry,  either  of  them  too  large  for 
treatment  here.  Since  we  must  pass  over  one 
of  them  let  it  be  the  first  and  more  obvious, 
viz: 

Why  does  the  church  need  men?  It  is  a  ques- 
tion often  asked,  and  perhaps  increasingly  in 
these  later  years.  Let  me  barely  enumerate 
some  of  the  answers. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  67 

Primarily,  of  course,  the  church  needs  men 
because  they  have  souls  for  which  Christ  died. 
But  from  the  standpoint  of  church  life,  men 
mean  numbers, — more  people  to  do  things, — 
a  consideration  of  no  small  importance.  They 
also  mean  virility,  and  a  better  balancing  of 
church  forces;  and  this  not  in  disparagement 
but  in  supplement  of  the  splendid  work  of  the 
women.  They  also  mean  leadership  and  moral 
support  in  the  community ;  business  method,  en- 
terprise and  sagacity;  money,  which  is  more 
and  more  coming  to  be  seen  as  a  useful  servant 
of  God,  though  a  bad  master  of  men ;  and  many 
lines  of  service  which  are  possible  only  to  men. 

Think  what  it  would  be  if — let  me  rather  say 
what  it  will  be  when — the  delegates  to  this  con- 
vention go  home  and  throw  themselves  heart 
and  soul  into  the  work  of  their  respective 
churches !  And  when  one  remembers  that  this 
is  a  representative  body,  the  imagination  is 
staggered  at  the  thought  of  all  those  who  are 
here  represented  doing  the  same  thing. 

But  we  must  hasten  to  consider  a  little  more 
fully  the  other  branch  of  the  subject,  Why  do 
men  need  the  church?  Or,  in  a  more  fruitful 
form  of  statement,  how  shall  we  make  them  see 
that  they  need  it? 

The  appeal  of  the  church  to  the  men  of  this 
generation  is  no  longer  that  of  authority.  Even 
in  other  countries  and  other  communions  where 
it  is  supposed  to  be  strongest,  this  grip  is  visi- 
bly weakening;  and  in  Protestant  America  the 


68  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

church  must  justify  itself  to  men  as  any  other 
enterprise  would  do,  if  it  is  to  expect  their 
cooperation  and  support. 

The  justification  is  not  found  in  ecclesiastical 
politics  or  in  theological  debate.  Conservative 
or  liberal,  right  or  wrong,  regret  or  rejoice  in 
it  as  we  may,  this  whole  class  of  motives  has 
largely  lost  its  appeal. 

Nor  can  the  church  successfully  compete  with 
rival  influences  along  the  lines  of  mere  pleas- 
ure and  self  gratification.  The  gospel  of  a  good 
time  has  been  quite  sufficiently  tried  and  with 
results  that  are  far  from  satisfactory.  This  is 
one  of  the  points  where  there  is  great  room  for 
misunderstanding  which  I  have  no  time  to  clear 
away.  I  am  not  preaching  asceticism.  A  good 
time  is  one  of  the  "things  that  accompany  sal- 
vation ; ' '  but  unless  there  is  a  definite  spiritual 
purpose  behind  the  good  time,  we  shall  be  dis- 
tanced before  the  race  is  fairly  begun.  There 
can  be  no  more  disastrous  folly  than  to  suppose 
that  the  church  can  defeat  its  competitors  mere- 
ly with  their  own  weapons. 

Affirmatively,  men  need  the  church : 

Because  it  is  a  place  of  Salvation.  The  gos- 
pel message  to  a  lost  world  was  peculiarly  en- 
trusted to  the  church,  and  it  is  one  of  the  glories 
of  our  Presbyterianism  that  always  (as  we 
have  heard  from  an  earlier  speaker),  and  espe- 
cially of  late  years  it  has  recognized  and  re- 
sponded to  the  evangelistic  motive.    But  I  must 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  69 

not  start  on  this  theme  or  I  shall  never  get 
away  from  it  to  anything  else. 

Many  men  after  they  reach  this  stage  seem 
to  want  nothing  more  of  the  church.  But  after 
the  soul  is  saved  (aside  from  the  normal  func- 
tions of  instruction  and  growth)  many  men 
need  the  church  as  a  place  of  Refuge.  I  am 
not  concerned  at  this  point  with  the  tramp  and 
the  outcast,  but  I  have  in  mind  the  relation  of 
the  church  to  the  problem  of  the  hall  bedroom, 
the  cheap  theater,  the  dance  hall,  the  saloon  and 
the  gambling  den ;  to  the  temptations  that  grow 
out  of  loneliness  and  monotony  and  the  drudg- 
ery of  petty  interests ;  to  the  lowering  of  ideals 
and  the  loosening  grip  of  spiritual  things. 
Those  of  us  whose  church  work  lies  in  the  board- 
ing house  sections  of  our  great  cities  know  best, 
but  all  of  us  in  city  and  town  and  country  alike 
need  to  know  better,  the  momentous  importance 
of  this  work  and  the  singular  fitness  of  the 
church  to  perform  it.  There  are  men  here  to- 
day who  owe  their  rescue  from  moral  shipwreck 
to  the  shelter  they  have  found  in  the  church  of 
the  Living  God. 

It  also  appeals  to  men  as  a  place  of  Fellow- 
ship. In  Christian  life  and  service  more  than 
elsewhere  it  is  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone. 
Our  Lord  made  no  mistake  when  he  sent  out 
his  great  deputations  by  two  and  two,  and  in 
every  succeeding  age  the  world  has  witnessed 
the  power  of  Christian  companionship, — nega- 
tively as  an  off-set  to  the  colossal  dangers  of 


70  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

companionship  that  is  not  Christian,  and  posi- 
tively as  empowering  two  for  acts  of  service 
which  neither  perhaps  would  undertake  alone. 

What  inspiration  lies  in  the  thought  of  the 
apostolic  partnerships,  and  those  of  the  Cru- 
saders and  the  Eef  ormation  heroes !  It  is  tonic 
and  steadying  to  find  ourselves  associated  with 
a  body  of  men  of  like  passions  with  ourselves, 
but  all  pursuing  the  same  high  ends  and 
prompted  by  loyalty  to  the  same  Master. 

The  man  who  seeks  the  higher  life  without 
such  fellowship  is  as  tragically  absurd  as  a 
soldier  in  the  enemy's  country  campaigning  all 
alone,  and  reporting  occasionally  to  the  general 
government,  but  never  to  his  comrades  or  to 
his  regimental  or  company  commander. 

Beyond  all  this,  the  church  is  a  place  of  Serv- 
ice. It  is  probable  that  we  have  laid,  I  will  not 
say  too  great,  but  too  exclusive,  emphasis  upon 
the  invitation,  ' '  Come  thou  with  us  and  we  will 
do  thee  good."  The  most  significant  fact  in 
the  moral  world  to-day  is  the  growth  of  the 
spirit  of  service.  More  and  more  men,  and  for 
more  and  more  of  their  time,  are  aspiring  to 
achieve  something  beyond  their  own  gratifica- 
tion or  even  a  passport  to  heaven.  The  motto, 
"Saved  to  serve,"  is  no  longer,  if  it  ever  was, 
the  exclusive  possession  of  any  body  of  Chris- 
tians. 

We  are  talking  to  men  as  they  are :  well  mean- 
ing, often  unstable,  occasionally  in  earnest  for 
the  higher  things,  then  swept  away  by  the  tu- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONTENTION  71 

multuous  pressure  of  the  lower,  more  or  less 
selfish,  possibly  prejudiced,  perhaps  unreason- 
able, but  generally  sincere,  and  in  their  best 
moods  eager  to  be  and  do  something  worth 
while — in  short,  ourselves:  all  of  us  church 
members,  nearly  all  more  or  less  interested  in 
the  work  of  the  church,  none  of  us  what  we 
feel  we  ought  to  be  in  our  relations  with  it. 

How  shall  we  persuade  first  ourselves  and 
then  others  who  are  a  little  farther  outside,  that 
the  church  is  a  worthy  place  for  the  investment 
of  our  life  and  influence  in  the  service  of  hu- 
manity, where  we  may  give  our  best  and  utter- 
most without  stint  and  without  fear  of  waste? 

For  one  thing,  it  ought  to  appeal  to  business 
men  that  as  a  mere  matter  of  economy  in  opera- 
tion, the  church  is  the  greatest  of  labor  savers. 
How  wasteful  and  short-sighted  it  is  for  one 
who  is  anxious  to  help  his  fellow-men  to  set 
about  it  alone,  or  to  organize  new  machinery 
when  the  church  is  ready  to  his  hand,  with  the 
general  and  preliminary  work  largely  done,  and 
adaptable  with  infinite  flexibility  to  new  needs 
and  new  methods,  for  any  purpose  that  is 
worthy  to  be  undertaken  in  the  name  of  Christ ! 

Then,  the  church  appeals  to  men's  sense  of 
the  heroic.  The  thought  is  familiar  as  applied 
to  individual  Christian  heroes;  the  names  of 
Livingstone  and  Patteson  and  Zinzendorf  and 
Huss  have  been  the  inspiration  of  multitudes 
of  knightly  deeds  for  Christ's  sake. 

Eightly  considered,  no  less  epic  and  impres- 


72 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 


sive  is  the  corporate  life  of  the  church,  frpm 
the  day  when  those  few  first  disciples  stood  be- 
tween it  and  failure.  Think  of  it  as  an  enter- 
prise that  must  create  the  demand  it  seeks  to 
supply ;  a  witness  for  higher  things  in  the  over- 
whelming rush  and  turmoil  of  the  lower ;  a  gal- 
lant fight  against  tremendous  odds;  the  little 
flock  to  which  it  is  the  Father's  good  pleasure 
to  give  the  kingdom.  Who  that  loves  a  brave 
battle  and  a  fair  field  can  stand  unmoved  by 
the  way-side,  as  the  sacramental  host  inarches 
out  to  its  campaign  in  the  enemy's  country? 

Again,  the  church  offers  men  unequalled  op- 
portunities to  deal  with  large  issues  in  a  large 
way.  It  is  a  popular  notion  that  the  church  is 
narrow  in  itself  and  in  its  influence  upon  its 
followers,  but  except  as  the  charge  may  be  jus- 
tified by  our  unfaithfulness  it  rests  upon  insin- 
cerity or  ignorance.  On  the  contrary,  no 
agency  of  the  human  spirit  has  such  splendor 
of  breadth,  and  variety,  and  adaptation  to 
every  taste  and  capacity.  Nowhere  else  as  here 
can  one  man  serve  humanity  through  architec- 
ture, another  through  music,  or  philosophy,  or 
love  for  children,  or  civic  zeal,  or  sympathy 
for  the  unfortunate.  No  other  institution  so 
lays  under  tribute  all  the  powers  and  affections 
of  the  whole  man. 

It  is  said  that  one  of  the  Rothschilds  in  his 
advancing  years  was  urged  to  lay  down  the  bur- 
dens of  business  in  order  to  enjoy  life.  His 
reply  was,  "If  any  man  will  tell  me  where  to 


INDIANAPOLIS   CONVENTION  73 

find  greater  enjoyment  than  in  making  money 
on  a  large  scale,  I  should  be  glad  to  know  it." 
In  the  name  of  Christ  and  his  church  I  would 
accept  this  challenge. 

As  a  mere  matter  of  bigness,  the  church 
counts  her  financial  operations  in  millions ;  and 
we  handle  our  money  twice,  first  taking  it  in 
and  then  paying  it  out. 

If  one  is  ambitious  to  grapple  with  great 
problems,  I  point  him  to  the  church  as  she  is 
called  upon  to  deal  with  intemperance,  immi- 
gration, Mormonism,  the  labor  question,  or  the 
evangelization  of  the  world. 

Perhaps  the  church  has  been  at  fault  in  not 
making  larger  demands  upon  her  men.  It  may 
be  that  those  who  are  accustomed  to  deal  on  a 
broad  scale  would  respond  more  readily  to 
such  calls  than  to  the  policy  of  driblets  and 
hand-to-mouth,  which  we  have  too  often  pur- 
sued. 

Aside  from  material  and  social  problems,  the 
church  deals  largely  and  not  in  fragments  with 
spiritual  forces.  Its  field  is  the  whole  of  human 
life,  its  material  not  only  the  body  and  mind, 
but  the  marvelously  complex  and  delicate  soul 
of  man ;  it  touches  this  life  and  the  life  to  come ; 
its  sweep  takes  in  the  universe,  as  one  has  said, 
from  the  center  of  gravity  to  the  throne  of  God. 

And  because  the  church  enables  us  to  "see 
life  steadily  and  see  it  whole,"  it  is  a  place 
for  the  correction  of  false  estimates  and  the 
setting  of  things  in  their  right  proportion.     It 


74  THE  PKESBYTERIAxNT   BB0THEBH00D 

is  still  true  as  of  old  that  we  are  envious  of 
the  prosperity  of  the  wicked  until  we  go  into 
the  sanctuary  of  God.  Many  a  man  has  learned 
in  the  church  as  nowhere  else  the  saving  lesson 
of  how  to  put  first  things  first. 

I  venture  to  believe  that  the  church  is  to  be, 
more  than  it  ever  yet  has  been,  the  instrument 
for  the  adjustment  of  antagonisms.  We  are 
grateful  for  what  is  already  done  and  doing  for 
the  removal  of  religious  differences.  Our 
Presbyterian  name  covers  to-day  those  who 
lately  were  separated  by  a  divisive  label;  and 
before  another  convention,  even  the  Presbyte- 
rian name  may  not  be  broad  enough  for  our 
Canadian  brethren. 

It  seems  probable,  too,  that  in  the  church  will 
be  found  the  true  adjustment  of  most  if  not  all 
social  and  economic  questions.  The  church  has 
often  been  charged  with  petty  and  selfish  indi- 
vidualism and  with  neglect  of  the  social  organ- 
ism. On  the  other  hand,  I  heard  a  great 
preacher  say  the  other  day  that  the  chief  peril 
of  modern  civilization  is  the  suppressed  and 
undiscovered  individual.  There  is  no  time  here 
to  justify  my  confident  belief  that  these,  like 
other  opposites,  can  best  be  reconciled,  and  I 
am  inclined  to  believe  can  only  be  reconciled 
through  the  mediation  of  a  church  which  grasps 
the  largeness  of  its  mission  and  understands 
the  almighty  power  of  its  Leader.  An  effective 
beginning  has  already  been  made  with  the  labor 
question  and  much  more  is  to  follow. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  75 

I  must  allude  also  in  passing  to  the  church 
as  a  place  for  the  connection  and  correlation 
of  things  that  are  too  often  disjoined.  It  fur- 
nishes the  only  religious  sanction  to  ethics  and 
philanthropy  and  civic  loyalty;  and  why  any 
one  should  desire  to  work  in  any  of  these  lines 
without  the  help  of  Christ  and  his  church  passes 
my  comprehension.  What  is  possibly  even 
more  important,  the  church  is  the  place  where 
religion  may  be,  yes,  must  be,  infused  and  satu- 
rated with  the  ethical  and  philanthropic  spirit, 
the  ideals  and  the  practice  of  righteousness. 

Again,  the  church  offers  to  men  a  sound 
working  philosophy  of  life.  I  say  a  working 
philosophy;  for  perhaps  we  may  never  arrive 
at  a  scholastic  interpretation  of  the  universe 
that  will  be  final  and  satisfactory.  At  least  we 
have  not  yet  reached  it.  Within  my  own  life- 
time certain  well-defined  phases  of  rationalism, 
materialism  and  agnosticism  have  "had  their 
day  and  ceased  to  be";  not  in  the  sense  that 
they  have  been  abandoned  by  most  of  those  who 
have  once  adopted  them,  but  that  new  thinkers 
are  taking  up  something  else.  Some  of  us  won- 
der whether  we  are  now  entering  upon  a  period 
of  philosophic  pantheism. 

But  few  of  us  are  philosophers,  and  very  few 
of  life's  great  problems  are  to  be  settled  by  sci- 
entific formulae.  A  tried  and  sufficient  theory 
of  practical  living,  that  imparts  courage  in  dif- 
ficulty, sweetens  trial  and  disappointment,  re- 
bukes selfishness,  stimulates  to  righteousness, 


76  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

gives  assurance  of  hope,  and  inspires  and  en- 
ables a  man  to  go  out  and  do  his  best, — where 
can  we  find  it  as  in  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ? 

We  owe  to  our  distinguished  friend,  Ealph 
Connor,  a  complete  and  epigrammatic  statement 
of  the  proposition,  in  his  account  of  a  Free- 
thinkers '  Club,  demoralized  and  put  to  flight  by 
a  young  home  missionary,  whose  formula  was 
this :  ' '  He  let  them  doubt,  but  insisted  on  their 
having  something  positive  to  live  by." 

Once  more,  the  church,  as  no  other  institution, 
links  the  present  with  the  past  and  the  future. 
The  impressive  sense  of  historical  continuity 
which  has  been  considered  the  special  posses- 
sion of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  belongs  to 
us  Protestants,  it  seems  to  me,  in  a  truer,  be- 
cause a  more  spiritual,  sense.  It  stirs  the  im- 
agination to  realize  how  every  man  who  enters 
into  covenant  with  the  church  is  caught  up  in 
the  sweep  and  momentum  of  all  the  Christian 
centuries,  and  becomes  a  partaker  of  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  the  martyrs 
and  confessors,  a  member  of  the  Communion  of 
Saints,  and  has  his  name  appended  to  that  ma- 
jestic roll  of  heroes  of  the  faith,  in  the  cate- 
gory of  those  for  whom  God  has  provided  some 
better  thing,  that  they  without  us  should  not  be 
made  perfect. 

If  the  church  takes  hold  upon  the  past,  it 
also  reaches  forward, — yes,  beyond  the  process 
of  the  suns.  It  is  one  of  the  things  that  cannot 
be  shaken,  that  has  remained  and  ever  will  re- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  77 

main,  until  we  come  into  the  better  country 
where  there  are  no  churches  because  it  is  all 
one  church,  and  no  temple,  because  the  Lord 
God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple  of 
it. 

Contrast  the  church  with  all  other  organiza- 
tions, however  noble  and  serviceable ;  with  civic 
federations  and  charity  organizations  and  set- 
tlement work  and  temperance  societies  and 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations, — and  I 
believe  heartily  in  most  of  them, — and  see  how 
some  of  them  are  drawn  closer  and  closer  into 
the  very  structure  and  fellowship  of  the  church 
itself,  while  others  fail  or  shift  in  their  mis- 
sion, and  others,  temporary  in  their  nature, 
have  already  become  or  are  destined  one  by  one 
to  become  obsolete. 

"But  Lord,  thy  church  is  praying  yet, 
A  thousand  years  the  same.,, 

What  manly  man  of  high  ideals,  desiring  to 
invest  himself  for  the  largest  returns  to  human- 
ity, would  not  be  eager  to  link  his  life  with  such 
an  organization!  And  yet — and  yet — there  is 
another  side  to  the  picture. 

Have  you  been  conscious,  as  I  was  speaking, 
of  a  certain  sense  of  unreality  about  it  all,  a 
feeling  that  fine  words  and  beautiful  thoughts 
are  easy,  but  actual  life  is  different  ?  Have  you 
perhaps  been  half-consciously  saying  to  your- 
selves, "Oh,  if  I  could  find  such  a  church,  how 


78  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

gladly  would  I  throw  myself  into  its  activities 
and  spend  and  be  spent  in  its  service;  but  the 
dream  is  not  realized  in  experience"? 

Let  me  say  in  all  kindness,  if  you  have  not 
felt  something  of  this,  you  are  not  awake  yet. 
The  man  who  has  followed  me  with  assent,  per- 
haps even  with  enthusiasm,  and  who  shall  go 
out  to-morrow  and  try  to  enlist  himself  or 
others  in  such  an  enterprise  as  I  have  attempted 
to  describe,  may  be  destined  to  a  rude  disap- 
pointment. We  need  not  adopt  the  attitude  of 
hostility  and  contempt,  but  if  we  should  can- 
didly go  over  the  claims  made  for  the  church, 
point  by  point,  and  compare  them  with  actual 
conditions,  every  thoughtful  man  knows  how 
far  short  we  should  fall. 

It  is  but  lately  that  our  own  church  in  any 
adequate  and  effective  way  has  remembered 
that  it  was  put  in  trust  with  the  gospel,  and 
aroused  itself  to  the  duty  and  privilege  of  win- 
ning men  to  the  acceptance  of  Christ. 

Instead  of  refuge  and  fellowship,  how  many 
times  it  has  offered  indifference  and  cold  for- 
mality, or  triviality  and  pettiness,  or  perhaps 
turned  over  the  whole  business  to  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  and  the  Salvation 
Army.  And  how  many  of  the  men  who  try  to 
engage  in  this  work  at  all  are  the  wrong  kind, 
men  who  seem  not  to  have  learned  the  lesson 
which,  as  a  great  newspaper  said  the  other  day, 
the  church  needs  to  learn,  that  it  is  possible  to 
be  pious  without  being  foolish.     How  many  of 


INDIANAPOLIS   CONVENTION  79 

them  are  men  who  will  not  even  take  pains  to 
be  personally  attractive. 

There  was  something  more  than  mere  bitter- 
ness and  irreverence  in  the  reply  of  a  distin- 
guished lawyer  when  asked  whether  he  would 
prefer  to  live  in  heaven  or  in  hell.  "When  I 
look,"  said  he,  "at  most  of  the  men  who  claim 
to  be  going  to  heaven,  and  compare  them  with 
my  friends  who  seem  to  be  headed  the  other 
way,  I  am  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  while 
heaven  has  doubtless  the  more  agreeable  cli- 
mate, hell  enjoys  the  better  society.' ' 

Shame  on  us,  brethren,  for  all  the  splendid 
fellows  who  are  outside  of  the  church  through 
our  indifference  and  unfaithfulness ! 

As  a  place  of  service,  too  often  we  have  seen 
our  heroism  and  enlistment  fade  before  a  Sun- 
day headache  or  a  theater  engagement;  our 
flexibility  of  method  stiffening  into  routine  and 
conventionality,  and  the  suggestion  of  a  new 
plan  or  field  of  endeavor  frightening  us  away ; 
our  estimates  of  relative  values  inverted;  our 
ethics  and  public  spirit  relegated  to  outside 
agencies  and  then  their  absence  from  the  church 
made  an  excuse  for  staying  out  ourselves ;  and 
instead  of  large  issues,  our  energies  devoted 
to  small  personalities  and  trivial  criticisms. 
Saddest  of  all,  where  righteousness  and  purity 
of  life  should  most  prevail,  there  has  been  too 
much  complacent  self-seeking  and  unabashed 
commercialism  and  some  times  even  plain  dis- 
honesty and  rottenness. 


80  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

In  the  face  of  these  facts  we  can  hardly  ex- 
pect cordial  enlistment  by  outsiders.  The  crit- 
ical point  of  this  whole  discussion  is,  What  shall 
be  the  attitude  toward  the  facts  and  toward  the 
church,  of  those  who  profess  to  value  the  ends 
that  the  church  stands  for?  In  other  words, 
Who  is  responsible  and  what  are  we  going  to  do 
about  it?  Shall  we  give  up  the  ends  in  despair 
and  abandon  the  purpose  of  service?  Or  shall 
we  rather  hear  the  call  as  a  challenge  to  our 
manhood  to  enter  in  and  make  the  church  what 
it  ought  to  be  ?  Least  logical  and  sensible  of  all 
is  the  course  that  many  of  us  seem  to  have  pur- 
sued, of  professing  continued  loyalty,  yet  with- 
holding our  personal  effort  to  bring  the  church 
to  the  place  where  she  can  do  what  she  was  sent 
into  the  world  to  do. 

The  fault  is  not  in  the  plan.  No  reasonable 
man  can  doubt  that  a  working  church  ought  to 
be  all  that  I  have  tried  to  indicate,  or  that  such 
a  working  church  would  be  also  triumphantly 
a  winning  church. 

I  go  further  and  assert  that  if  we  should  cut 
loose  from  the  church  and  set  about  construct- 
ing a  substitute  with  a  view  to  the  best  and  most 
effective  service  for  humanity,  we  should  find 
at  the  end  that  we  had  reproduced  the  church 
substantially  as  Christ  gave  it  to  us.  It  is  true 
of  her  as  Voltaire  said  about  God :  If  she  did 
not  exist  it  would  be  necessary  to  invent  her. 
Every  substitute  that  has  been  tried  has  failed 
exactly  in  proportion  as  it  has  departed  from 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  81 

the  divine  model,  and  the  experiment  has  usu- 
ally been  attended  with  moral  deterioration  and 
disaster  to  those  who  have  tried  it. 

It  is  a  workable  plan.  It  has  worked  at  many 
times  in  the  past,  and  it  is  working  to-day  in 
many  places. 

If  then  the  plan  is  good,  the  fault  must  be 
with  the  operation,  and  brethren,  we  are  the 
operators;  not  its  enemies  but  its  professed 
friends.  See  the  vicious  circle  in  which  we 
move.  We  fail  in  our  loyalty  and  devotion,  and 
the  church,  weakened  by  our  failure,  falls  short 
of  her  opportunity ;  then  her  weakness  is  made 
the  excuse  for  further  neglect,  and  gradually 
moral  fiber  disintegrates  and  flabbiness,  formal- 
ity, and  fruitlessness  fall  alike  upon  the  church 
and  upon  our  own  souls. 

It  is  easy  to  overlook  our  own  share  in  the 
catastrophe.  "When  the  judges  of  England  met 
to  adopt  an  address  of  congratulation  to  Queen 
Victoria  upon  her  jubilee,  a  committee  reported 
a  draft  which  contained  the  expression,  "Con- 
scious as  we  are  of  our  own  shortcomings "; 
whereupon  Mr.  Justice  Bowen  moved  an 
amendment,  to  make  the  statement  accord  with 
the  facts,  as  follows:  "Conscious  as  we  are 
of  one  another's  shortcomings." 

If  we  had  money  invested  in  an  institution 
that  was  thus  mismanaged,  would  we  act  about 
it  as  we  do  about  this  institution  in  which  we 
profess  to  have  invested  all  that  is  high  and 
worthy  in  our  lives  1    Would  we  not  rather  say, 

6 


82  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

"The  business  is  sound  if  it  is  properly  run;  I 
will  take  hold  and  do  what  I  can  to  help  run  it 
right"? 

My  plea  is  for  individual  loyalty  to  the 
church  from  the  inside;  that  we  stop  criticising 
and  go  to  work ;  that  we  clean  up  our  own  share 
of  the  responsibility,  and  resolve  not  to  find 
fault  with  any  other  until  we  are  sure  that  we 
ourselves  are  doing  our  best. 

If  it  may  lead  to  such  a  result,  this  conven- 
tion may  mark  a  turning  point  to  which  many 
generations  shall  look  back  with  gratitude  as 
the  beginning  of  a  mighty  movement  of  the 
whole  church,  up  to  the  ideal  and  standard  of 
her  Master. 

For  of  course  I  have  left  until  the  last  the 
mention  of  the  church's  chief  asset  and  attrac- 
tion and  appeal  to  the  men  of  this  and  every 
generation, — the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who  is  also 
the  divine  resource  and  courage  and  strength 
of  those  who  are  overborne  by  her  problems  and 
conflicts.  While  we  have  him  all  things  are 
ours. 

I  shall  not  soon  forget  a  humble  workingman 
of  Roman  Catholic  training,  who  had  been 
drawn  under  the  influence  of  Dowieism  into  a 
sweet  and  consistent  Christian  life,  absorbing 
the  good,  and  apparently  untouched  by  the  evil 
of  that  singular  movement.  When  the  crash 
came  last  summer,  and  the  factions  were  bit- 
terly assailing  each  other  and  shattering  faith 
in  the  genuineness  of  their  Christian  profes- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  83 

sions,  his  deep  perplexity  of  spirit  showed  itself 
in  his  face  as  I  met  hirn  day  by  day.  At  length 
I  said  to  him,  "Kobert,  it  is  a  good  thing  that 
we  are  not  told  to  believe  on  either  Dowie  or 
Voliva,  and  be  saved ' ' ;  and  a  bright  smile  shot 
through  the  quick- springing  tears  as  he  replied 
in  broken  English:  "Yes,  dat's  so;  Jesus 
Christ,  he's  a]l  right."  It  was  a  homely  ex- 
pression of  the  same  thought  which  the  scholar- 
poet  has  put  into  his  impassioned  verse : 

"Yea,  through  life,  death,  through  sorrow  and 
through  sinning, 

He  will  suffice  me,  for  he  hath  sufficed, 
Christ  is  the  end,  for  Christ  was  the  beginning, 

Christ  the  beginning,  for  the  end  is  Christ.' ' 

More  and  more  men  are  coming  to  see  in  per- 
sonal contact  with  the  personal  Christ,  all  that 
makes  life  worth  living,  and  service  a  pleasure, 
and  self-sacrifice  a  present  and  eternal  gain. 

All  that  I  have  claimed  for  the  church,  if 
predicated  of  Jesus  Christ,  would  command 
your  instant  and  unanimous  assent.  But  what  is 
true  of  him  is  true  of  the  church,  as  he  planned 
it  and  as  by  his  grace  it  shall  be. 

I  have  spoken  as  if  the  church  had  Jesus 
Christ.  Nay  rather,  the  church  is  Jesus  Christ. 
She  is  his  body,  and  what  is  that  but  the  organ 
by  which  he  manifests  and  expresses  himself  to 
the  world?  Bead  the  fifth  chapter  of  Ephe- 
sians  and  see  what  valuation  he  sets  upon  her. 


84 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 


He  gave  himself  for  her  and  bought  her  with 
his  own  blood.  He  is  jealous  of  her  purity  and 
fruitfulness  and  eager  to  claim  her  as  his  pe- 
culiar treasure, — to  present  her  to  himself  a 
glorious  church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle  or 
any  such  thing. 

Whatever  may  be  the  attitude  of  those  out- 
side, it  seems  a  plain  contradiction  in  terms  to 
profess  loyalty  to  Christ,  and  yet  remain  hostile 
or  indifferent  to  the  church  he  loves.  It  is  in 
her  that  we  shall  be  led  by  his  spirit,  walk  in 
companionship  with  him,  learn  the  secret  of  liv- 
ing by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  find  the 
true  ideal,  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister,  and  to  give  our  lives  for  many. 

Oh,  my  brethren,  whatever  else  we  find  or 
miss  here,  let  us  not  fail  to  catch  the  vision  of 
our  glorified  Lord,  as  he  once  gave  himself  for 
the  church,  and  now  perpetually  gives  himself 
to  her,  and  through  her  to  the  world, — the  full- 
ness of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all. 

And  whatever  of  self-seeking,  of  indolence,  or 
cowardice  or  worldliness,  has  obscured  his  face, 
let  it  be  our  high  purpose  and  resolve,  each  for 
himself,  to  put  it  away,  so  that  as  we  gaze  upon 
him  we  shall  be  changed  into  the  same  image, 
and  the  world,  looking  at  the  church,  shall  be- 
hold no  man  but  Jesus  only. 

Then  with  new  power  and  purity  and  enrich- 
ment we  shall  gladly  spend  ourselves  for  her, 
and  multitudes  who  have  stood  apart  will  crowd 
her  gates  with  confident  devotion  and  willing 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  85 

service,  and  our  hearts  shall  cry  out  to  her,  as 
to  her  Master  and  ours  : 

"What  were  our  lives  without  thee? 
What  all  our  lives  to  save  thee? 
We  reck  not  what  we  gave  thee, 
We  will  not  dare  to  doubt  thee ; 
But  ask  whatever  else,  and  we  will  dare !" 


VI 

VICE-PBESIDENT   FAIRBANKS '  AD- 
DRESS 

Mr.  Osborne,  Presiding. — One  of  the  best  out- 
looks for  our  country  is  the  fact  that  for  many 
years  our  chief  executive  has  been  not  only  a 
nominal  Christian,  but  an  earnest,  active  Chris- 
tian, and  we  have  with  us  to-day  Vice-President 
Fairbanks,  who  is  also  a  brother  Christian,  and 
we  would  like  to  hear  from  him. 

Vice-President  Fairbanks. — Mr.  Chairman, 
and  Gentlemen  of  the  Presbyterian  Church: 
This  is  a  very  unexpected  pleasure  for  me.  I 
had  no  thought  until  late  last  evening  when  the 
committee  extended  to  me  an  invitation  to  meet 
you,  that  I  should  have  this  pleasure  this  morn- 
ing. I  have  not  come  to  you  with  a  formal 
speech,  but  I  have  come  to  you  with  just  a  word 
of  greeting  and  good  wishes.  I  am  most  heart- 
ily in  accord  with  the  work  in  which  you  are 
engaged,  and  I  am  particularly  gratified  that 
it  should  have  been  begun  in  the  Hoosier  capital, 
Indianapolis,  which  has  a  generous  hospitality 
for  all  creeds.  You  are  welcome,  and  thrice 
welcome,  gentlemen.  The  great  Presbyterian 
Church  in  whose  interests  you  have  gathered 

86 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION 


87 


here  has  exercised  from  the  beginning  of  this 
city  up  to  the  present  time,  the  most  profound 
influence  for  good.  It  has  had  a  profound  in- 
fluence over  the  state,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean. 
There  has  been  no  more  propitious  time  and 
hour  in  the  history  of  our  republic  for  begin- 
ning such  an  organization  as  you  are  beginning 
here  than  now.  We  are  going  forward  in  all  of 
the  avenues  of  human  activity  more  rapidly 
than  at  any  other  time  since  our  ancestors 
landed  at  Plymouth  Rock;  we  are  growing  in 
every  way,  and  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance, 
if  we  would  achieve  our  highest  destiny,  that  we 
should  grow  in  the  principles  of  our  Christian 
religion.  It  were  indeed  unfortunate  if  we 
should  grow  in  material  things  and  fail  to  grow 
on  the  Christian  side;  it  were  indeed  unfortu- 
nate if  we  should  grow  only  in  material  things 
and  lose  sight  of  those  things  which  make  for 
the  highest  and  best  civilization.  The  Brother- 
hood which  you  have  met  here  to  organize,  is, 
as  I  have  said  before,  of  great  interest  to  you, 
but  yet  it  is  of  greater  interest  to  our  country ; 
it  is  an  important  thing  to  interest  the  young 
men  of  this  great  church  in  its  mighty  work; 
they  need  to  shoulder  the  responsibility  of  the 
future,  and  you  perform  a  double  service  in 
this,  a  service  to  the  church,  and  a  service  to 
American  institutions. 

I  congratulate  you  upon  this  undertaking,  and 
I  wish  that  your  most  optimistic  hopes  may  be 
fully  realized.     There  is  none  that  can  appre- 


88  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

ciate  in  full  measure  the  beneficent  influences 
that  flow  from  an  organization  of  organized  ef- 
fort when  we  come  to  think  of  what  one  man 
may  accomplish  in  a  community  or  state,  and 
when  we  think  of  this  we  can  appreciate  some- 
thing of  the  mighty  achievements  of  a  Brother- 
hood which  shall  bind  within  the  bonds  of  fel- 
lowship hundreds  of  thousands  reaching  into  all 
states,  and  all  sections  of  our  country.  No  one 
but  God  Almighty  can  fully  measure  the  bene- 
fits and  results. 

I  trust,  my  friends,  that  the  Presbyterian 
Brotherhood  which  has  its  birth  here  under  such 
happy  auspices  may  expand  and  grow  and  be- 
come one  of  the  mighty  influences  for  civic 
righteousness  in  the  republic  of  the  United 
States. 

I  wish  to  thank  you  again  for  your  kind  and 
generous  greeting,  and  it  would  be  inopportune 
for  me  to  detain  you  further  from  your  work 
which  has  been  mapped  out  for  consideration, 
but  I  wish  in  conclusion  again  heartily  to  con- 
gratulate you  upon  the  splendid  work  you  have 
in  hand,  and  I  wish  that  as  the  years  come  and 
go  and  the  influences  of  this  great  Brotherhood 
are  nation-wide,  that  you  may  look  back  to 
this  hour  spent  by  you  in  this  capital  of  the 
state  of  Indiana  when  this  great  institution 
goes  forth  fully  equipped  for  the  great  work 
which  you  have  set  out  to  establish.  I  thank 
you. 


VII 

THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN 
BROTHERHOOD 

BY  THE  REV.  R.  R.  BIGGER,  PH.  D. 

Dr.  Bigger  prepared  and  introduced  the  Ma- 
honing Overture,  also  the  Ohio  Overture  asking 
the  General  Assembly  to  take  steps  toward  the 
organization  of  the  Brotherhood. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brothers:  At  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Presbytery  of  Mahoning  in  the 
month  of  October,  1904,  the  question,  How 
to  interest  and  use  the  men  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  behalf  of  their  fellow-men,  and 
for  the  upbuilding  of  the  kingdom,  was  under 
discussion.  A  general  lamentation  was  going 
up  on  all  sides  from  the  pastors  deploring  the 
apathy  of  many  of  the  men  as  to  church  at- 
tendance and  Christian  work,  when  your  hum- 
ble servant  arose  and  said,  "I  do  not  wonder 
that  the  men  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  are 
not  as  active  as  they  should  be ;  for,  while  the 
General  Assembly  has  made  ample  provision 
for  the  organization,  encouragement,  and  main- 
tenance of  work  for  children,  young  people,  and 
women,  nothing  in  the  way  of  a  society  or 

89 


90  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

Brotherhood  distinctively  Presbyterian  has 
been  provided  for  our  men,  so  that  with  com- 
mon purpose  in  view  our  Presbyterian  men  in 
all  our  churches,  cities,  presbyteries,  synods, 
and  throughout  the  world  could  move  forward 
in  an  organized  effort.  In  view  of  this  the 
wonder  to  me  is  that  the  men  are  as  active  as 
they  are,  and  I  believe  that  the  time  has  come 
when  an  overture  should  be  sent  to  the  General 
Assembly  asking  it  to  take  steps  toward  the 
formation  of  a  men's  society  within  our  church, 
providing  for  presbyterial,  synodical,  and  na- 
tional conventions.'' 

You  should  have  seen  the  response  to  that 
sentiment,  especially  on  the  part  of  the  laymen. 
Instantly  one  of  them  was  on  his  feet  and  moved 
that  the  speaker  be  appointed  to  draft  an 
overture  to  this  effect  to  be  sent  from  Mahon- 
ing Presbytery  to  the  General  Assembly.  It 
was  drafted  and  when  presented  to  the  presby- 
tery, it  received  a  unanimous,  affirmative  vote. 
But  knowing  that  'Mahoning  was  not  a  large 
presbytery,  we  feared  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly might  not  seriously  consider  our  overture, 
and  as  I  was  a  delegate  to  the  Synod  of  Ohio 
which  met  in  Cincinnati,  I  determined  to  ask 
the  synod  to  make  this  same  overture  its  over- 
ture. The  synod  without  one  dissenting  vote 
adopted  it.  When  it  came  to  the  General  As- 
sembly at  Lake  Winona  in  May,  1905,  affirma- 
tive action  on  the  overture  was  unanimous.  In 
fact  everything  has  been  unanimous  from  start 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  91 

to  finish, — a  good  omen  for  this  convention. 
The  Assembly's  committee  which  has  done  such 
grand  work  was  appointed,  and  the  response 
from  the  qnestionaire  which  they  sent  ont  to 
prominent  ministers  and  laymen  all  over  the 
country  showed  that  the  time  for  the  Brother- 
hood had  come.     The  church  was  ripe  for  it. 

We  have  had  a  multitude  of  men's  societies, 
clubs,  guilds,  leagues,  and  organized  Bible 
classes  scattered  throughout  the  church,  scarce- 
ly any  two  of  them  alike,  with  no  common  organ- 
ization binding  them  together.  The  Brother- 
hood movement  is  an  attempt  to  put  into  prac- 
tice the  self-evident  truth  that  "in  union  there 
is  strength,' '  and,  "without  counsel  purposes 
are  disappointed :  but  in  the  multitude  of  coun- 
sellors they  are  established."     (Prov.  15:22.) 

The  most  pleasing  and  most  hopeful  aspect  of 
this  movement  is  that  the  laymen  from  the  be- 
ginning have  been  anxious  for  the  Brotherhood. 
Everywhere  they  declare  that  they  feel  the  need 
of  a  general  organization  which  will  bring  the 
laymen  of  our  cities  and  the  nation  together  for 
conference  and  fellowship. 

Pastors  were  also  pleased  with  the  idea,  for, 
desiring  to  organize  their  men,  they  are  bewil- 
dered as  to  what  is  the  best  kind  of  a  society  to 
organize.  We  trust  the  Brotherhood  movement 
will  bring  to  pastors  and  churches  the  wisdom 
they  seek.  My  heart  is  in  this  movement,  and 
my  fondest  desire  is :  "  Long  live  the  Brother- 
hood." 


VIII 

GREETINGS  FROM  FRATERNAL  ORGAN- 
IZATIONS 

JOHN  CLAEK   HILL,  D.D.,  PRESIDING 

Dr.  Hill. — I  have  been  frequently  asked  if 
this  Presbyterian  Brotherhood  that  we  are  talk- 
ing about,  is  going  to  supplant  the  Brotherhood 
of  Andrew  and  Philip.  No,  not  at  all.  We 
want  these  organizations  in  our  churches  and 
we  do  not  care  what  kind  of  an  organization  it 
is  so  long  as  we  get  the  men  together  to  do 
things.  That  is  what  the  chapters  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip  are  doing 
with  such  great  success,  in  a  large  number  of 
our  churches,  and  we  will  now  hear  from  the 
Rev.  Win.  H.  Pheley,  the  secretary. 

Dr.  Pheley. — I  am  very  happy  to  look  into 
your  faces.  It  thrills  my  heart,  as  it  would  the 
heart  of  any  man  who  loves  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  to  see  such  a  splendid  body  of  Christian 
men  and  know  the  purpose  that  brings  them  to- 
gether. 

I  am  very  happy  indeed  to  have  the  privilege 
of  bringing  you  the  fraternal  greetings  of  the 

92 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  93 

largest  men's  organization  in  the  world,  work- 
ing within  the  church,  that  is  strictly  denomina- 
tional in  relation  to  the  chnrch  of  which  it  is  a 
part  and  interdenominational  through  feder- 
ated relations  with  chapters  in  other  denomina- 
tions,— the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip, 
the  Federal  Council  of  which  I  have  the  pleasure 
to  represent. 

For  fifteen  years  this  Brotherhood  has  stood 
for  denominational  loyalty  and  for  interdenom- 
inational fellowship  and  federation,  which  is  the 
spirit  of  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  to-day. 
Our  organization  was  originally  started  to  do 
the  things  in  and  through  the  church  which  it  is 
expected  this  convention  will  foster  in  the  local 
Presbyterian  churches.  Our  purpose  and  aim 
is  the  same  as  yours.  We  are  therefore  deeply 
interested  in  this  movement  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  to  bind  its  men  together  in  a  mighty 
union  for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ.  If  there  were  representatives  here 
from  the  twenty-four  different  denominations 
in  which  the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip 
is  at  work  they  would  be  of  one  mind  and  of 
one  heart  in  giving  you  Godspeed,  and  in  pray- 
ing for  glorious  results  to  come  from  this  con- 
vention. We  sincerely  hope  that  there  will  go 
out  from  this  convention  a  power  that  will  be 
instrumental  in  planting  a  men's  organization 
in  every  church  of  the  denomination.  The 
Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip,  with  its 
years  of  experience,  has  proved  a  few  things  in 


94  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

reference  to  men's  work  in  the  churches,  which 
I  wish  that  I  had  time  to  bring  to  your  atten- 
tion, but  I  am  told  that  I  must  compress  my 
remarks  into  five  minutes,  and  my  compressor 
seems  adequate  for  the  occasion. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip  was 
organized  about  eighteen  years  ago  by  the  Rev. 
Eufus  W.  Miller,  D.D.,  who  had  three  ideas  for 
his  foundation  stones:  First,  that  young  men 
needed  something  definite  to  do;  second,  that 
responsibility  develops  ability;  and  third,  that 
men  are  the  best  persons  to  win  men.  The 
Brotherhood  has  never  lost  sight  of  these  funda- 
mentals. It  has  stood  for  simplicity  of  or- 
ganization and  shown  itself  flexible  enough 
to  meet  varied  conditions  and  requirements 
of  the  local  church.  Scarcely  two  of  our 
organizations  or  chapters  are  identical  in 
work  and  method.  There  is  a  greater  or 
less  variety  of  work  according  to  the  needs 
of  the  various  churches.  Two  things,  however, 
stand  out  clear  in  all  of  our  Brotherhoods, 
namely,  the  rule  of  prayer,  and  the  rule  of  serv- 
ice, and  these  are  essential  to  any  successful 
men's  organization  in  the  church,  as  the  history 
of  men's  organizations  throughout  the  churches 
has  proved.  If  there  is  any  secret  to  our  Broth- 
erhood's success,  this  is  the  secret.  If  you  have 
service  you  must  have  back  of  it  prayer. 

My  greetings  to-day  come  from  forty  thou- 
sand Brotherhood  men  and  more  than  fourteen 
thousand  of  them  are  members  of  the  Presby- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  95 

terian  Church.  I  believe  this  movement  will 
help  men's  work  in  all  of  the  churches  in  our 
land.  Some  one  said  to  me,  "Do  you  expect  to 
organize  chapters  of  the  Brotherhood  of  An- 
drew and  Philip  in  the  Presbyterian  churches 
after  this  movement?"  Certainly.  It  is  in  ac- 
cord with  the  General  Assembly's  plan  that  we 
should  do  so.  It  is  the  strongest  men's  work 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church  to-day  and  is  in  per- 
fect harmony  with  the  purpose  and  hope  of  this 
convention.  There  comes  before  me  a  vision 
which  the  immortal  Bunyan  pictured,  and  which 
I  hope  this  convention  will  help  to  actualize  in 
the  lives  of  thousands  of  men.  Christian  saw 
the  picture,  you  will  remember,  in  the  house  of 
the  Interpreter  and  this  was  the  fashion  of  it: 
"He  had  his  eyes  looking  up  to  heaven,  the  best 
of  books  was  in  his  hands,  the  law  of  truth  was 
written  upon  his  lips,  the  world  was  behind  his 
back — he  stood  as  if  he  pleaded  with  men  and 
a  crown  of  glory  did  hang  over  his  head. ' ' 

The  Chairman  then  introduced  Mr.  John 
Henry  Smale,  representing  the  Brotherhood  of 
St.  Andrew,  of  the  P.  E.  Church. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Fellow-soldiers  in  the  army 
of  Jesus  Christ :  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to 
come  here  in  behalf  of  the  president  and  officers 
and  members  of  this  organization  to  extend  to 
you  their  earnest  congratulations  and  their 
most  cordial  greetings  in  this  great  undertak- 
ing which  you  are  about  to  inaugurate.    I  take 


96  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

it,  gentlemen,  that  you  are  doing  just  what  we 
did  twenty-three  years  ago.  You  are  not  in- 
troducing anything  new  into  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  but  you  are  commencing  upon  some- 
thing in  a  new  way. 

The  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew  realized  that 
the  two  basic  principles  of  their  organization 
must  be  service  and  prayer,  and  so  they  adopted 
two  rules,  the  rules  of  service  and  prayer,  and 
made  as  its  sole  object  the  extension  of  Christ's 
kingdom  among  men,  and  especially  young  men. 
The  organization  originated  twenty-three  years 
ago  with  twelve  men  in  St.  James,  Chicago,  and 
it  now  extends  all  over  the  world  where  the  Eng- 
lish language  is  spoken.  In  America  alone  it 
numbers  some  twelve  thousand  active  Brother- 
hood men.  The  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew 
was  not  organized  very  long  before  it  realized 
it  had  an  opportunity  to  do  a  great  work.  Even 
the  boy  problem  is  not  peculiar  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  I  understand,  however,  from 
this  conference,  that  you  know  a  great  deal 
about  the  boy,  but  we  know  very  little  about  the 
boy  or  how  to  handle  him.  The  senior  organi- 
zation was  formed  for  ten  years  before  we 
undertook  the  boy  problem,  and  then  we  formed 
among  the  boys  the  very  same  kind  of  an  or- 
ganization, and  they  have  the  same  rules,  the 
rules  of  prayer  and  service.  They  try  to  spread 
Christ's  kingdom  among  the  boys,  and  they 
make  an  earnest  effort  each  week  to  bring  one 
person  nearer  to  Christ  through  the  church. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  97 

I  do  not  see  why  we  should  have  so  much 
trouble  in  getting  the  boy  into  the  church. 
There  is  everything  in  the  life  of  Jesus  that 
would  appeal  to  a  boy  if  he  likes  a  hero.  If  he 
wants  a  hero,  he  was  a  hero;  if  he  wants  a 
dreamer,  Jesus  Christ  was  a  dreamer,  but  he 
dreamed  the  dreams  of  God,  and  they  always 
came  true.  And  I  tell  you,  gentlemen,  if  you 
will  present  the  boy  Jesus  Christ  to  the  boy, 
he  will  be  absolutely  irresistible  to  the  boy,  and 
you  will  not  have  to  come  to  the  convention  for 
ideas.  Go  to  the  Brotherhood  of  Si  Andrew. 
I  was  sixteen  years  of  age  myself  when  I  sur- 
rendered to  Jesus  Christ,  and  boys  usually  do 
between  twelve  and  eighteen.  Now,  it  can  be 
done  with  other  boys  if  it  was  done  with  me, 
and  I  would  recommend  to  this  Brotherhood 
here  that  they  adopt  some  such  a  plan  as  was 
adopted  by  the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  as  soon 
as  possible. 

Now  gentlemen,  the  reason  I  say  that  the 
character  of  Jesus  will  appeal  to  the  boy  is  this : 
I  myself  am  the  director  of  the  boys '  chapter  of 
the  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew.  "When  I  tell 
these  boys  that  we  have  come  together  for  the 
purpose  of  following  a  Man  who  went  into  the 
world  and  told  men  that  they  were  liars,  and 
that  they  were  thieves,  and  went  into  their 
churches  and  turned  over  their  money  tables 
and  called  them  canting  hypocrites  and  whit- 
ened sepulchers,  and  that  he  made  enemies 
of  them,  and  they  began  to  make  plans  to  trap 

7 


98  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

him  and  they  did,  and  took  him  before  the 
magistrate  and  convicted  him,  and  they  spat  on 
him  and  nailed  him  to  the  cross,  and  then  sang, 
' '  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews, ' '  and  in  his  agony  he 
said,  ' '  Father,  forgive  them ;  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do" — why  that  is  magnificent  to  hand 
to  the  boy!  They  cannot  resist  that  appeal  of 
Jesus  Christ  from  the  Cross. 

Now  I  want  to  agree  with  one  of  your  most 
wonderful  speakers ;  he  has  brought  a  message 
to  this  conference, — Mr.  McDonald.  He  made 
a  statement  that  in  our  politics  in  this  country 
we  had  graft  and  corruption,  and  he  said  that 
in  business  men  were  not  true.  I  just  wonder 
what  he  thinks  of  some  of  the  people  that  we 
have  in  the  church.  I  agree  with  him,  and  I 
believe  I  represent  the  sentiment  of  the  Ameri- 
cans here, — I  am  going  to  do  this  on  my  own 
responsibility — there  are  not  only  grafters  in 
the  United  States  Legislature,  but  a  strong  band 
of  men  who  are  fighting  this  and  extending 
the  honor  to  their  countrymen.  You  will  find 
in  the  business  world  that  men  are  being  inter- 
ested ;  and  so  I  liked  this  message  from  this  gen- 
tleman. The  realization  of  the  ideals  of  this 
country  are  not  coming  through  the  Eepublican, 
the  Democratic  or  the  Socialistic,  or  any  other 
party;  but  they  are  coming  through  the  per- 
sonal fidelity  and  allegiance  of  every  American 
citizen  to  our  Lord  and  Master,  Jesus  Christ. 

Now  gentlemen,  when  you  go  away  and  get 
into  the  struggle,  sometimes  you  will  get  the 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  99 

worst  of  it,  and  sometimes  the  best ;  but  it  is  a 
good  thing  to  feel  that  we  are  in  the  hands  of 
God  working  out  his  purpose.  When  I  came 
here,  I  came  to  congratulate  you,  but  that  does 
not  express  it.  I  want  to  extend  to  you  my  per- 
sonal love  and  the  love  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
St.  Andrew.  You  are  going  into  this  work  of 
saving  men  and  we  hope  you  will  have  success. 
Now  I  hope  that  you  will  try  to  show  to  the 
boys  of  your  territory  the  side  of  Jesus  which 
is  altogether  lovely,  and  I  hope  we  will  be  able 
in  whatever  way  we  can  to  cooperate  with  you 
in  bringing  men  and  boys  to  him  who  is  called 
the  "Wonderful,  Counsellor,  The  almighty 
God,  The  everlasting  Father,  The  Prince  of 
Peace. ' ' 

I  thank  you  for  the  privilege  of  addressing 
you  here  this  afternoon. 

Dr.  Hill. — Last  February  in  Pittsburg  there 
was  a  most  notable  convention  of  men,  laymen 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  who  were 
called  together  not  through  their  General  As- 
sembly but  through  their  laymen.  They  met 
and  organized  and  then  went  to  their  Assembly 
for  recognition.  We  began  the  other  way. 
They  have  got  the  start  of  us,  and  they  have  a 
most  magnificent  start.  The  men  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  have  set  the  pace,  and  you 
might  say  that  we  could  at  least  make  a  good 
second.     So  we  will  hear  this  afternoon  from 


100  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

Judge  Mackenzie  Cleland,  of  Chicago,  on  The 
United  Presbyterian  Men's  League. 

Judge  Mackenzie  Cleland. — Gentlemen, 
when  I  am  obliged  to  tell  you  all  I  have  to  say 
in  five  minutes  I  can  readily  sympathize  with 
the  college  professor  who  was  able  to  speak  in 
ten  different  languages  and  married  a  woman 
who  would  not  let  him  speak  in  any.  However, 
I  am  very  glad  to  be  able  to  represent  for  five 
minutes  the  men's  movement  in  our  church.  I 
wish  to  take  this  opportunity  to  congratulate 
you  on  the  somewhat  unusual  but  nevertheless 
reasonable  wisdom  in  getting  the  idea  from  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church,  and  I  wish  to  re- 
mind you  lest  you  forget  it,  we  have  some  other 
good  things  which  we  want  you  to  feel  at  per- 
fect liberty  to  adopt. 

In  the  city  of  Chicago  seven  per  cent  of  the 
men  are  members  of  church.  I  heard  of  a  col- 
lege man  in  a  church — and  I  have  heard  it  re- 
marked that  that  was  about  the  last  place  on 
earth  to  look  for  a  college  man — but  I  am  afraid 
if  things  keep  on  as  they  are  the  churches  will 
be  the  last  place  to  look  for  any  kind  of  a  man 
in  our  large  cities.  In  the  churches  only  twen- 
ty-three per  cent  of  the  men  maintain  any  offi- 
cial position  or  connection  with  the  work  of 
the  congregation,  and  seventy-seven  per  cent  do 
absolutely  nothing  toward  promoting  the  de- 
velopment of  the  church;  and  it  is  because  of 
that  fact  that  the  men's  movement  in  the  United 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  101 

Presbyterian  Church  was  organized,  when  as  it 
has  been  stated,  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  three 
per  cent  of  all  of  our  men  met  together  last  Feb- 
ruary and  promoted  this  organization.  I  am 
also  not  ashamed  to  confess  it  was  because  of 
the  magnificent  work  of  our  women  that  we  did 
this.  I  think  it  was  George  Eliot  that  was 
responsible  for  the  allegation  that  if  women  are 
foolish  it  is  because  they  were  made  to  match 
the  men.  But  in  religious  matters  the  women 
are  more  than  a  match  for  the  men.  A  boy  once 
stated  that  after  God  made  man  he  took  out  his 
brains  and  made  woman. 

Those  people  who  ride  in  automobiles  have 
divided  the  human  race  into  two  classes,  the 
quick  and  the  dead.  And  I  sometimes  think 
that  this  classification  may  be  applied  to  our 
churches.  If  this  little  song,  "Shall  I  be  car- 
ried to  the  skies  on  flowery  beds  of  ease,  while 
others  strive  to  win  the  prize  and  sail  through 
bloody  seas,"  should  be  sung  to  some  of  the 
men,  some  of  them  would  say,  "It  looks  good  to 
me." 

The  organization  which  we  founded  in  Pitts- 
burgh has  met  our  expectations;  we  had  how- 
ever, a  view  of  the  future  which  influenced  us 
very  much.  In  our  organization  there  is  a  re- 
markable interest  in  these  days  in  the  study  of 
God's  word  by  men  and  women.  We  have  in 
the  city  of  Chicago  fourteen  hundred  adult 
Bible  classes  in  our  Sabbath  schools  that  report 
forty  thousand  members,  and  it  is  a  serious 


102  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

question  as  to  whether  or  not  these  Bible  classes 
should  not  be  made  to  unite  to  our  organization. 
The  Bible  is  the  only  thing  which  will  set  Israel 
free,  and  it  is  the  only  thing  which  will  set 
America  free.  We  must  go  to  battle,  but  we 
must  be  careful  of  one  thing,  and  that  is  not  to 
fire  at  one  another,  but  to  aim  at  one  common 
enemy. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  difference  between 
Columbus  and  Field  was  that  Columbus  said, 
"Here  is  one  world,  let's  make  two,"  and  Field 
said,  "Here  are  two  worlds,  let's  make  one." 
And  as  the  theologians  have  said,  "Here  is  one 
church,  let 's  make  a  hundred. ' '  But  it  has  been 
said  later,  "Here  are  one  hundred  churches, 
let's  make  one," — and  that  one — a  United  Pres- 
byterian ! 

William  Jennings  Bryan. — I  do  not  want  to 
carry  my  double  standard  idea  to  the  extent 
that  I  make  two  speeches  when  I  am  to  make 
but  one.  I  think  you  ought  to  be  satisfied  if  I 
get  far  enough  away  to  make  a  speech  on  reli- 
gion in  a  day,  and  give  me  the  most  desired, 
but  not  often  enjoyed,  privilege  of  hearing 
someone  else  speak.  For  the  past  few  years  I 
have  had  to  speak  so  often  and  travel  so  fast 
that  I  have  not  had  a  chance  to  hear  a  great 
many  speak,  and  I  have  enjoyed  very  much  lis- 
tening to  those  who  have  spoken,  and  I  am  not 
going  to  take  any  more  of  your  time.  I  want 
to  hear  all  I  can  hear,  and  I  am  only  sorry  I 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  103 

am  not  going  to  be  permitted  to  hear  more 
speeches  than  it  will  be  possible  for  me  to  hear. 
I  will  speak  to-night. 


IX 

THE  CONFERENCE  ON  PRACTICAL 
WORK 

PRESIDENT    C.    W.    DABNEY,    LL.D.,    UNIVERSITY    OF 
CINCINNATI,  PRESIDING 

President  Dabney. — It  has  been  decided  that 
we  shall  devote  this  hour  to  the  subject  of  the 
great  fundamental  questions  of  the  work  of 
Men's  Brotherhoods,  and  I  will  call  on  several 
gentlemen  to  talk  to  us  on  this  subject.  I  am 
giving  them  brief  notice,  but  that  is  as  much 
notice  as  was  given  to  me.  We  will  hear  from 
Brothers  Vose,  Sutherland,  Hall,  Dowling,  and 
Chambers.  The  leader  will  have  &ve  minutes, 
and  the  other  gentlemen  three  minutes  each, 
then  we  will  hear  from  any  one.  The  subject 
is  the  work  of  the  men's  Bible  classes,  their  or- 
ganization, their  methods  of  work,  their  method 
of  getting  new  members,  and  of  keeping  them 
after  getting  them,  and  the  method  of  getting 
them  into  the  church.  All  matters  pertaining 
to  the  Bible  class  are  proper  for  discussion  at 
this  time.     I  shall  call  on  Mr.  Vose  first. 

Mr.  Vose. — I  come  from  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Evanston,  a  suburb  of  Chicago, 

104 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  105 

a  dormitory  for  Chicago  business  men.  We  are 
not  asleep  there.  We  are  under  the  leadership 
of  the  moderator  of  the  Presbytery  of  Chicago. 
He  has  inspired  every  one  of  us  with  this 
thought  of  individual  work  for  individuals,  and 
under  his  leadership  in  the  spring,  a  year  ago, 
we  took  in  forty-four  young  people.  I  do  not 
know  whether  what  I  am  to  say  is  worth  hear- 
ing or  not.  We  have  three  leagues,  first  the 
men 's  league,  from  eighty  to  one  hundred.  This 
stands  for  some  things  that  make  for  the  edu- 
cation of  manhood.  The  men's  league  includes 
the  ushers  of  the  church,  and  they  collar  every 
one  who  happens  to  step  into  the  church.  Sec- 
ond, we  accomplish  work  through  a  Bible  class 
which  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  teaching.  For 
the  last  ten  years  this  has  been  composed  of 
young  men,  their  ages  running  from  twenty  to 
thirty-five.  Last  spring  we  consolidated  this 
with  the  men's  class  that  before  that  had  been 
under  the  direction  of  our  pastor,  and  now  the 
ages  run  from  twenty-five  to  eighty-three. 

Third,  we  are  bringing  to  the  league  young 
men  of  the  church  aged  fifteen  to  twenty-five. 
We  have  first,  a  look-out  committee,  that  looks 
out  and  looks  in ;  then,  second,  a  committee  that 
looks  after  fhe  spiritual  work  of  the  class; 
third,  a  special  committee;  and  fourth,  an  ath- 
letic committee.  Under  this  head  we  play  base- 
ball and  football,  in  fact  almost  anything  or 
everything. 

In  the  city  of  Evanston  we  do  not  have  the 


106  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

floating  population  which  you  have  in  larger  cit- 
ies; they  are  permanent  residents,  but  under 
our  formation  of  the  classes  we  are  successful 
in  doing  this,  putting  men  to  work  who  have 
never  worked  before  for  Christ,  and  under  the 
present  leadership  they  are  doing  the  most  that 
it  is  possible  for  anyone  to  do.  I  think  that  if 
this  is  possible  in  our  church  it  is  possible  any 
place. 

Mr.  Allan  Sutherland. — In  our  Brother- 
hood of  Andrew  and  Philip  in  Philadelphia  we 
emphasize  the  fact  that  every  man  who  is 
brought  into  the  Brotherhood  will  be  put  to 
work,  and  the  strong  point  we  make  is  that 
every  man,  young  or  old,  is  given  an  opportu- 
nity to  go  into  the  Bible  classes ;  and  we  encour- 
age our  men  to  take  an  interest  in  the  general 
work  of  the  Sunday  school.  This  is  the  great 
secret  of  successful  men's  work:  giving  men 
something  to  do  as  soon  as  they  get  into  the 
church.  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  teaching 
a  Bible  class  for  the  past  fourteen  years,  and 
it  has  been  one  of  my  chief  delights.  There  is 
no  honor  the  church  could  confer  upon  me  that 
I  would  count  greater.  In  this  work  we  come 
in  contact  with  the  men,  especially  the  young 
men  of  the  church,  who  have  not  given  them- 
selves to  Christ.  We  have  them  at  an  age  when 
they  are  ready  to  decide  for  or  against;  and 
we  can  exert  our  influence  and  bring  these 
young  men  to  Christ.    What  a  privilege !    The 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  107 

class  has  also  had  a  great  influence  on  me ;  for 
I  will  say  to  you  that  it  has  held  me  in  the 
church.  When  I  have  had  severe  temptations 
the  knowledge  that  these  men  were  looking  to 
me  for  guidance,  and  that  I  was  in  a  large  sense 
their  example,  has  held  me  steady  when  the  al- 
lurements of  the  world  were  strong  upon  me. 
No  matter  what  I  have  done  for  the  young  men 
of  my  class,  they  have  done  more  for  me.  At 
one  time,  when  we  had  a  membership  of  fifty  or 
sixty,  it  was  reported  that  not  three  squares 
from  our  church  there  was  a  speak-easy  where 
a  large  number  of  young  men  spent  their  Sun- 
day afternoons.  Our  class  decided  to  do  some- 
thing to  change  that  condition.  We  made  it  a 
matter  of  prayer,  and  asked  God  to  guide  us  in 
an  effort  to  break  up  this  speak-easy.  Two 
weeks  from  that  time  we  had  almost  every  one 
of  those  young  men  in  our  class.  To  my  own 
knowledge  seventeen  young  men  out  of  that 
speak-easy  have  l   rfessed  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  good  to  take  a  class  of  boys  and  grow  up 
with  them.  While  the  responsibility  is  great, 
the  joy  and  privilege  is  greater.  The  blessing 
to  one's  life  is  inestimable.  I  still  have  my 
class,  and  I  pray  the  Lord  that  he  will  let  me 
be  the  teacher  of  it  for  many  years  to  come. 

Mr.  Hall. — In  our  work  in  the  Bible  class 
part  of  our  work  in  the  church  in  Chicago  we 
are  more  impressed  with  the  difficulty  of  ac- 


108  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

coinplishing  what  we  would  like  to  accomplish 
than  we  are  with  our  success  in  solving  the  dif- 
ficulties. My  own  work  has  been  with  young 
men,  ranging  in  attendance  from  thirty  to 
eighty  per  Sunday.  A  portion  of  them  I  have 
almost  grown  up  with,  and  when  I  have  thought 
of  leaving  that  part  of  the  city  these  young  men 
have  held  me  where  I  have  been  living.  We 
have  an  organization  and  we  find  that  we  do 
not  need  to  watch  them  very  much.  At  first  I 
was  very  anxious  lest  we  would  run  away  with 
ourselves  with  entertainments,  but  we  found 
that  when  we  had  our  Bible  class  every  Sunday 
we  could  let  them  go  free,  for  their  plans  were 
actuated  by  a  Christian  principle  and  they  did 
not  need  to  be  checked  and  corrected  very  much. 
In  this  organization  the  work  is  thrown  upon 
the  young  men  as  much  as  possible.  The  look- 
out committee  looks  for  members ;  the  entertain- 
ment committee  entertains  them  when  they  get 
them. 

We  have  a  prayer  meeting  at  our  house 
every  Saturday  night  a  certain  portion  of  every 
year,  and  in  order  that  we  may  keep  the  at- 
tendance it  meets  at  7 :15  and  stops  at  8 :00,  so 
that  the  young  people  have  the  evening  before 
them.  It  has  been  a  great  source  of  delight  to 
me  to  see  the  influence  of  this  on  the  young 
people.  They  have  set  out  to  see  what  members 
of  the  class  were  not  members  of  any  other 
church,  and  they  have  done  a  great  work  for 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  109 

Mr.  Dowling. — The  first  thing  we  consider  is 
how  to  get  men  into  the  church,  and  the  second 
thing  is  to  keep  them  after  we  have  them  in. 
One  way  is  to  supply  them  with  printed  litera- 
ture, to  distribute  it  broadcast ;  also  send  it  out 
to  individual  men  who  are  not  connected  with 
the  class,  and  send  out  postal  cards  in  some  at- 
tractive form  determined  upon  by  some  man  of 
ability  in  writing  advertisements.  Find  some 
man  in  the  class  to  write  the  postal  cards.  Then 
also  give  some  system  of  Sunday  evening  en- 
tertainments, an  address  by  some  prominent 
man  from  a  distance.  Have  a  large  number  of 
the  men  of  your  class  on  the  entertainment  com- 
mittee. They  will  invite  their  friends.  Have 
the  addresses  made  especially  with  reference  to 
men  and  men's  needs.  Aside  from  this,  per- 
sonal invitations  will  bring  a  large  number  of 
men.  Send  the  invitations  to  their  business 
houses  and  invite  them  to  come  to  the  class.  Do 
not  stop  with  one,  or  two,  or  three  invitations, 
but  keep  on  inviting  them  until  they  come. 
When  I  get  them  there  I  believe  in  the  lecture 
method.  I  do  not  believe  that  as  a  rule  men 
care  for  the  catechism  form  of  Bible  instruc- 
tion. 

For  in  this  way  you  get  some  one  with  a  half- 
baked  idea,  and  I  believe  the  safer  plan  for  them 
is  to  get  some  one  who  will  take  the  pains  to 
present  the  lesson.  Any  man  who  will  come 
to  such  a  class  will  be  interested  by  the  pure 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  more  you  tell 


110  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

him  of  his  need  of  Jesus,  the  more  you  will  in- 
terest him.  You  cannot  please  a  business  man 
better  than  to  hit  him  between  the  eyes  on  the 
subject  of  religion. 

Mr.  Chambers. — I  represent  a  class  of  men 
with  an  enrollment  of  three  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-five. This  class  is  fifty  years  old.  It  was 
founded  fifty  years  since  by  a  gentleman  who 
until  six  years  ago  was  its  only  teacher.  Its 
curriculum  is  very  small.  We  study  the  Bible 
and  nothing  else  until  we  take  up  the  lesson  for 
the  week.  We  have  a  church  membership  from 
that  class,  now  in  the  church,  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty  men.  Its  growth  is  dependent  on 
the  personal  efforts  of  the  men  themselves,  fol- 
lowed by  methods  similar  to  those  just  spoken 
of, — making  use  of  the  post  office.  The  attend- 
ance of  this  class  on  the  part  of  the  men  is  phe- 
nomenal. We  have  men  in  that  class  who  have 
not  missed  a  Sunday  for  ten  years ;  some  have 
not  missed  a  Sunday  for  fifteen  years ;  one  who 
has  not  missed  a  Sunday  for  twenty  years ;  and 
another  who  takes  special  pride  in  the  fact  that 
he  has  missed  only  three  Sundays  out  of  thirty- 
three  years.  I  ask  you,  Can  you  match  that 
anywhere  else?  We  have  fathers,  grandfath- 
ers, and  great-grandfathers,  men  who  came  in 
when  they  were  boys,  and  now  they  have 
children  in  other  classes  of  the  school  and 
sometimes  grandchildren.  The  other  day  we 
started  in  to  see  how  many  grandfathers  there 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  HI 

were  in  our  school,  and  we  counted  a  dozen,  and 
then  stopped. 

One  brother  said  that  he  has  got  more  out  of 
teaching  a  class  than  he  gave  to  it.  That  has 
been  my  experience  exactly.  I  have  had  more 
practical  lessons  than  I  have  got  out  of  all  of 
the  course  of  sermons  I  ever  attended.  When 
I  studied  for  the  ministry  I  was  taught  that  a 
sermon  must  consist  of  an  exordium,  an  argu- 
ment, and  a  peroration.  I  have  learned  some- 
thing better.  I  have  a  new  rule  in  my  teaching. 
Abridge  your  exordium,  have  more  argument, 
and  leave  out  the  peroration.  I  have  found  that 
the  stronger  truth  you  give  a  man  the  better  he 
likes  it.  I  thank  God  that  he  has  given  me  the 
privilege  of  coming  in  contact  with  a  class  like 
that,  and  that  I  have  been  honored  with  a  re- 
quest to  be  a  representative  at  this  convention. 

President  Dabney. — Is  it  not  true  that  noth- 
ing except  the  word  of  God  as  given  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  will  produce  such  results?  I 
happen  to  know  Dr.  Phillips  who  has  spoken 
to  us  this  afternoon.  He  is  the  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday  School  Bible  Class  Department. 
We  want  three  minutes  from  him. 

Dr.  Phillips. — I  knew  a  negro  minister  down 
South  who  said  that  he  first  presented  his  text, 
then  gave  his  arguments,  and  then  put  on  the 
rousements.  My  experience  with  men  has  been 
this,  that  your  explanation  of  the  text  may  be 


112  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

very  simple,  and  you  may  put  on  the  arguments 
very  quickly,  but  if  you  will  spend  more  of  your 
time  in  putting  on  the  rousements  you  will  get 
something  done.  Mr.  Spurgeon  said  that  his 
sermons  went  along  quietly  and  he  saved  him- 
self until  the  last,  and  I  think  any  one  could  be 
profited  by  taking  one  of  his  sermons  and  study- 
ing his  method.  But  brethren,  if  you  want  to 
know  how  to  teach  a  Bible  class,  the  best  thing 
is  to  get  the  class  in  touch  with  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  himself.  If  you  will  take  the  parable  of 
the  Good  Samaritan  and  not  study  it  for  what  it 
means,  simply,  but  especially  for  the  method  in 
which  Jesus  taught  his  lesson  you  will  find  out 
how  to  solve  your  problem.  There  is  no  doubt 
in  my  mind  about  these  things. 

The  other  day  I  was  in  Rochester  at  a  Bible 
class  in  a  Baptist  Church,  and  they  elected  me 
assistant,  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  class 
numbered  two  hundred  and  ninety-eight  men.  I 
wanted  to  find  out  the  reason  for  this  large  num- 
ber, and  so  I  said  to  one  of  the  men  in  the  class 
who  happened  to  be  a  street  car  conductor, 
"How  came  you  to  be  in  this  class?"  He  re- 
plied, "I  couldn't  keep  out  of  it."  "Why," 
said  I,  "what  do  you  mean?"  He  replied,  "I 
had  forty-two  personal  invitations  and  I  had  to 
come  or  die." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  H.  H.  Gregg. — There  is  nothing 
that  will  interest  men  like  the  great  word  of 
God.     It  has  been  my  privilege  to  speak  to  col- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  113 

lege  men  and  I  find  that  we  can  study  more 
from  history  when  we  learn  the  great  plans  of 
God  as  outlined  in  his  words  of  prophecy ;  that 
we  can  understand  more  of  nature  when  we  find 
that  Christ  is  the  Teacher.  He  is  the  only  key 
to  the  great  book  of  heaven  on  earth.  He  is  the 
only  key  to  human  history.  There  is  no  key  like 
the  word  of  God  that  will  interest  the  young 
man.  It  has  been  my  privilege  to  speak  to  a 
large  number  of  young  men  from  all  over  the 
country.  I  open  the  Book  of  God  and  find  the 
prayer  of  the  Spirit  of  God  working  in  their 
hearts  to  give  them  a  new  vision  of  God's  Son. 

Rev.  George  Dugan. — What  I  have  to  say  I 
will  say  as  briefly  as  possible.  I  have  a  Sunday 
school  in  my  church  and  in  less  than  twelve 
months  it  has  doubled.  It  may  be  of  interest  to 
you  to  know  how  this  came  about.  It  was  due, 
I  think,  mainly  to  two  things,  first,  to  the  organi- 
zation of  the  adult  men's  Bible  class;  and  sec- 
ond, to  the  organization  of  a  Bible  class  for 
young  men.  These  two  classes  set  the  pace  for 
the  other  classes  of  the  school.  They  caused  a 
tremendous  activity  throughout  the  whole 
school.  There  were  several  interesting  effects 
that  appeared  soon.  The  Bible  class  proved  a 
most  effective  instrument  in  reorganizing  our 
teaching  course.  I  remember  a  revival  service 
that  was  conducted  not  very  long  ago,  and  one 
of  the  ministers  was  asked  if  there  was  much 
success.     "Yes,"  he  replied,  "tremendous  suc- 

8 


114  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

cess."  He  was  then  asked  how  many  were 
added  to  the  church,  and  he  replied  that  he  did 
not  add  any.  "How  do  you  mean  that  the 
revival  was  a  success,  when  none  were  added  to 
the  church ?"  He  replied,  "We  got  rid  of 
fifteen  brethren. ' '  When  you  begin  to  organize 
your  classes  for  business  the  kind  of  teachers 
that  you  do  not  want  have  a  very  polite  way  of 
asking  to  be  excused.  You  have  left  those  who 
have  heretofore  been  left  from  the  work  and  are 
willing  to  take  hold  of  things.  That  means 
something.  Now  this  is  the  way  we  doubled  our 
attendance  in  less  than  a  year.  I  am  free  to  say 
that  the  greatest  blessing  that  I  am  finding  in 
the  work  in  the  city  of  Chicago  is  coming  to  me 
through  that  work.  I  have  the  special  delight 
of  being  the  leader  of  the  men's  Bible  class,  and 
it  is  a  joy,  I  assure  you. 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  HON.  WILLIAM  JEN- 
NINGS BRYAN 

Brethren. — I  am  glad  to  be  a  delegate  here, 
and  I  am  glad  there  are  no  contesting  delega- 
tions. I  have  not  always  been  so  fortunate  in 
attending  national  societies.  I  am  glad  to  be  a 
delegate  at  this  first  convention  of  the  Presby- 
terian Brotherhood,  and  I  think  that  I  can  re- 
joice as  much  on  account  of  the  union  of  the 
two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  as  any 
other  person  here,  and  possibly  few  of  you  oc- 
cupy quite  the  position  that  I  do.  I  had  the 
pleasure  just  a  little  while  ago  of  eating  dinner 
with  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians  over  at  the 
hotel,  and  I  reminded  them  that  I  began  my  life 
as  a  member  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  I  became  a  member  of  that  church 
when  I  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  I  have 
since  had  much  reason  to  rejoice  that  I  began 
as  early  as  I  did.  When  I  left  home  for  col- 
lege, the  city  to  which  I  went  had  no  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church  and  I  took  my  letter  to  the 
regular  Presbyterian  Church — I  do  not  know 
that  I  ought  to  put  in  the  word  "regular,"  but 
should  simply  use  the  word  church.    I  have 

115 


116  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

been  looking  back  and  making  some  calculations 
and  I  think  that  this  union  of  the  two  churches, 
this  membership  of  the  two  bodies,  justifies  me 
in  saying  that  my  Presbyterianism  is  like  the 
unit  in  the  establishment  of  our  monetary  sys- 
tem, when  both  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  agreed 
that  the  unit  should  rest  upon  two  metals,  and 
I  have  figured  that  taking  the  time  I  was  in  the 
Cumberland  Church  and  comparing  it  with  the 
time  I  have  been  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
the  ratio  is  all  right.  Now,  who  will  doubt  that 
I  have  a  right  to  be  here? 

I  am  glad  to  attend  a  Brotherhood  conven- 
tion for,  if  I  mistake  not  the  signs  of  the  times, 
there  is  an  awakening,  world-wide  in  its  extent, 
and  it  has  for  its  object  the  teaching  of  the 
religion  of  Brotherhood,  and  we  could  not  have 
selected  any  better  word  than  that  to  describe 
this  association  that  is  to  be  formed  in  our 
church.  I  am  pleased  that  the  men  of  the 
church  have  commenced  to  form  associations. 

Over  in  the  Orient  I  attended  some  of  the 
mosques,  and  I  found  that  there  only  the  men 
attend  the  church.  The  men  assembled  and 
prayed,  and  they  have  a  screen  behind  which  the 
women  sometimes  stand.  Now  in  our  church 
we  have  this  almost  reversed,  for  we  have  been 
letting  the  women  attend  and  the  men  do  not 
even  come  as  near  as  the  screen.  I  believe  it  is 
a  healthy  sign  that  these  organizations  are 
springing  up  whereby  the  men  are  being 
brought  into  active  Christian  work.     The  first 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  117 

thing  to  be  done  in  this  direction  is  the  estab- 
lishment or  the  arousing  of  an  interest  among 
the  men  already  in  the  clrurch.  I  have  noticed 
within  the  last  few  years,  as  I  have  gone  from 
place  to  place,  that  these  men's  societies  are 
constantly  growing  in  number  and  in  size.  I 
have  attended  them  in  the  Baptist  Church,  in 
the  Congregational  Church,  in  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  in  the  Presbyterian  Chuch.  There 
are  organizations  also  in  other  branches  of  the 
Christian  Church,  but  I  mention  these  which 
within  the  past  two  or  three  years  it  has  been 
my  privilege  to  attend. 

I  say  it  is  a  good  sign.  I  believe  that  it  is  a 
part  of  a  world-wide  movement  that  means  a 
full  awakening  among  the  people.  I  have 
thought  that  possibly  my  increasing  interest  in 
ethical  questions  was  due  to  my  increasing  age, 
for  I  think  it  is  true  that  as  we  grow  older,  we 
begin  to  look  at  questions  more  from  a  moral 
standpoint.  When  we  are  young  physical 
pleasures  and  delights  occupy  our  thoughts ;  as 
we  grow  a  little  older,  intellectual  pleasures  and 
delights  occupy  us,  and  as  we  grow  still  older, 
the  moral  phases  of  life  impress  us  more.  Not 
long  ago  an  eminent  physician  dared  to  suggest 
that  men  pass  their  age  of  usefulness  after 
they  cease  to  grow,  and  that  after  that,  at  about 
sixty,  they  are  useless,  and  even  suggested  that 
it  would  be  well  for  the  world  if  they  could  be 
snuffed  out.  It  made  me  indignant,  be- 
cause   a    man    that    overlooks    the    fact    that 


118  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

while  man's  physical  strength  reaches  its 
maximum  before  sixty,  and  his  intellectual 
strength  reaches  its  maximum  before  he  is 
sixty,  man's  spiritual  strength  ought  to 
grow  to  the  very  verge  of  the  grave,  and  he 
takes  a  very  incomplete  view  of  life  who  reckons 
man's  strength  only  as  it  is  manifest  in  muscle 
and  brain.  He  who  overlooks  man's  moral 
growth  and  spiritual  development,  has  but 
slight  knowledge  of  the  man ;  and  he  who  would 
remove  from  the  world  the  benediction  of  the 
man  with  whitened  locks,  has  not  stopped  to 
calculate  the  loss. 

I  want  to  speak  to  you  further  to-night  on  the 
subject  of  religion,  and  I  hope  that  you  will  not 
view  me  with  the  critic 's  eyes  as  I  speak.  This 
is  not  a  theme  on  which  I  have  spoken  as  often 
as  I  have  on  some  others,  but  it  is  a  theme  upon 
which  I  feel  much  more  deeply  than  upon  any 
other  subject.  When  I  speak  of  government, 
that  important  science,  that  art,  I  am  speaking 
of  a  subject  which  interests  not  all  the  people, 
but  only  a  part.  I  only  wish  that  the  subject  of 
government  interested  all,  for  it  seems  to  me  in 
a  country  like  this  where  every  citizen  is  a 
sovereign,  the  subject  of  government  ought  to  be 
of  intense  interest.  But  I  recognize  that  it  is 
not  true,  that  not  as  many  as  should  be  are  in- 
terested in  the  study  of  the  science  of  govern- 
ment. Not  only  do  I  speak  to  but  a  part  when 
I  speak  upon  the  subject  of  government,  but  I 
recognize  that  the  people  to  whom  I  speak  are 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  119 

divided  upon  this  subject,  and  not  all  of  those 
who  are  interested  take  the  same  view  of  politi- 
cal questions  that  I  take.  Therefore,  the  subject 
is  not  only  limited  in  its  interest,  but  it  is  a  sub- 
ject that  raises  more  or  less  opposition  in  the 
minds  of  those  to  whom  I  speak.  There  is  a  sub- 
ject greater  than  any  other  subject.  The  subject 
of  government  relates  to  but  a  part  of  our  life ; 
religion  relates  to  all  of  our  life.  Government 
relates  to  only  that  part  of  our  life  which  we  live 
here ;  religion  relates  to  all  of  our  life ;  not  only 
the  part  we  live  here,  but  the  part  we  shall  live 
beyond  the  grave.  There  can  be  no  other  sub- 
ject which  equals  in  importance  the  subject  of 
religion. 

Morality  is  necessary  to  society.  I  was  look- 
ing up  the  question  of  civilization,  and  I  found 
that  very  few  had  spoken  or  written  upon  the 
subject,  and  I  found  it  difficult  to  secure  a  defini- 
tion. If  you  have  not  tried,  let  me  ask  you  to 
find  if  you  can  a  definition  of  civilization.  I 
found  none  that  seems  to  me  to  satisfy  the  re- 
quirements of  a  definition.  Buckle  defines  it  as 
measured  by  the  influence  of  human  mind  over 
the  forces  of  nature,  but  he  omits  the  moral  ele- 
ment in  civilization — not  only  omitted  it  but  jus- 
tified the  omission.  The  more  I  have  studied  it 
the  more  I  have  been  satisfied  that  the  moral 
element  is  the  most  important  part  of  the  defini- 
tion of  civilization,  and  the  best  definition  I  have 
been  able  to  prepare  is  this,  that  civilization  is 
the  harmonious  development  of  the  human  race, 


120  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

physically,  mentally,  and  morally,  a  perfect  civi- 
lization being  one  in  which  every  citizen  is  de- 
veloped to  the  uttermost  in  body,  mind,  and 
heart.  Now,  if  morals  are  necessary  to  civiliza- 
tion, then  religion  is  necessary  to  morals,  for  I 
can  conceive  of  no  morals  that  are  not  based 
upon  religion.  I  know  that  in  saying  this  I  am 
stating  a  proposition  inconsistent  with  the  argu- 
ments of  the  philosophers,  but  I  have  tried  a 
little  at  least,  to  find  the  reasons  the  philoso- 
phers give  for  their  position,  and  I  am  not 
satisfied  with  them.  All  I  have  been  able  to 
find  in  this  philosophy  in  regard  to  morality  is 
that  they  calculate  the  benefits  to  come  from 
being  moral  and  my  conclusion  is  that  a  man, 
who  is  not  moral  except  when  he  can  calculate 
a  benefit  to  himself  because  of  his  morality,  is 
not  likely  to  be  very  moral,  and  more  than  that, 
he  spends  time  in  calculating  which  he  ought 
to  spend  in  acting.  The  man  who  attempts  to 
keep  books  on  himself  and  to  do  enough  good 
to  justify  public  opinion  does  not  do  enough 
good  to  justify  the  bookkeeping.  I  am  con- 
vinced that  there  can  be  no  real  morality  with- 
out religion  as  the  foundation  of  the  morality. 
There  is  a  gulf  of  immeasurable  width  between 
the  man  who  does  right  because  he  thinks  the 
people  will  see  him  if  he  does  wrong,  and  the 
man  who  does  right  because  he  believes  God 
will  see  him  if  he  does  wrong.  Morality  is  the 
foundation  of  the  greatest  things  in  the  nation. 
It  is  the  element  that  gives  the  power  of  en- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  121 

durance  in  man.  A  man  who  is  born  without 
a  moral  foundation  will  sooner  or  later  fall. 
A  man  requires  religion  in  order  to  be  strong. 
He  may  have  been  brought  up  under  Christian 
environments  and  Christian  influences  and  re- 
ceive such  a  momentum  that  he  may  go  along 
in  a  moral  course  even  though  he  denies  the 
origin  of  his  morality,  but  there  is  nothing  to 
give  momentum  after  you  take  away  religion, 
and  it  is  not  fair  to  judge  a  man  who  is  a  .skep- 
tic, an  atheist,  or  an  infidel,  but  whose  Christian 
environment  has  impressed  him  with  moral  ten- 
dencies— it  is  not  fair  to  judge  his  attitude  by 
his  life,  for  his  life  is  the  result  of  Christian 
surroundings,  while  his  voice  denies  the  source 
from  which  his  strength  comes. 

Man  is  a  religious  being,  and  we  find  that  in 
our  country  he  was  bowing  before  some  God 
even  before  the  white  man's  foot  pressed  the 
soil  of  America.  The  Indian  was  doing  homage 
to  the  great  spirit  and  speculating  upon  the 
happy  hunting  ground  that  awaited  him.  Go 
into  any  land  under  the  sun  and  you  will  find 
that  it  has  a  religion.  Go  into  India  and  you 
will  find  that  they  bathe  in  the  waters  of  the 
Ganges,  and  bow  down  to  idols  of  wood  and 
stone.  You  will  find  the  Buddhist  bowing  be- 
fore the  image  of  Buddha,  the  Mohammedans 
bowing  with  their  faces  toward  Mecca,  the 
Chinaman  bowing  down  and  taking  the  name  of 
Confucius  upon  his  lips.  Wherever  you  find 
man,  you  will  find  a  religious  sentiment  in  him. 


122  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

Tolstoi  has  denned  religion  as  the  relation 
which  man  fixes  between  himself  and  his  God, 
and  I  do  not  know  of  a  better  definition. 
Every  man  before  he  comes  to  the  years  of 
accountability  has  fixed  that  relation.  He  may 
tell  you  that  he  will  put  it  off;  that  he  will 
wait  for  a  more  convenient  season,  but  he  has 
already  fixed  some  relation  between  himself  and 
his  God.  Tolstoi  says  that  morality  is  the  out- 
ward manifestation  of  this  inward  relation,  and 
this  gives  rise  to  what  he  calls  the  cultured  code. 
He  speaks  of  those  who  regard  religion  as  if  it 
were  good  for  people  who  were  ignorant,  but 
away  from  which  they  can  go  when  they  have 
reached  a  certain  period  of  intelligence.  It  is 
true  that  this  religious  sentiment  does  not  rest 
on  superstition.  It  rests  upon  the  conscious- 
ness which  a  man  finds  within  himself  of  the 
limitation  of  his  own  power  when  recognizing 
his  weakness,  he  looks  for  one  who  is  stronger ; 
and  recognizing  his  sinfulness,  he  looks  to  one 
who  is  sinless. 

We  all  have  our  religion,  and  if  it  is  not  a 
correct  religion  it  is  a  false  one.  We  all  fix 
some  relation  between  ourselves  and  God ;  if  it 
is  not  a  true  religion,  it  is  a  false  religion,  and 
it  is  a  revelation  in  a  man's  life  when  this  rela- 
tion between  himself  and  his  God  undergoes  a 
change. 

I  thought  that  I  appreciated  religion  years 
ago,  but  I  have  never  appreciated  it  as  I  have 
since  I  have  had  the  opportunity  to  compare  it 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  123 

with  the  religions  of  the  Orient;  and  I  have 
never  felt  before  as  much  interest  in  our  na- 
tional work  as  I  have  since  I  have  had  the 
chance  to  see  what  our  missionaries  are  doing 
throughout  the  Orient.  Take  the  Hindu.  He 
believes  in  the  transmigration  of  the  soul;  that 
there  is  an  endless  chain  of  the  spirit  in  man, 
from  man  to  man,  from  man  to  animal,  and  from 
animal  back  to  man — an  endless  chain  that  goes 
on  through  infinite  time.  What  must  be  the 
feeling  of  the  Hindu  who  believes  that  he  has 
lived  through  forms  innumerable  and  must  yet 
pass  through  forms  innumerable? 

When  I  thought  of  these  things,  I  better 
understood  the  religion  of  Buddha.  He  gave 
the  promise  of  relief  from  this  endless  chain. 
The  distinct  feature  of  the  teaching  of  Buddha 
was  that  one  might  after  a  while  reach  a  place 
where  consciousness  shall  be  lost;  where  self, 
love  of  self,  and  love  of  life  is  so  eliminated  and 
so  exterminated  that  he  may  be  lost  in  the  great 
spirit  and  forever  afterwards  be  without  per- 
sonal consciousness.  These  people  regard  life 
as  a  curse  from  which  you  must  hope  and  pray 
for  relief.  What  a  difference  between  their 
conception  of  life  and  ours!  Think  of  the  de- 
voutness  of  some  of  these  people.  Five  times  a 
day  they  kneel  with  their  faces  to  the  earth  and 
their  heads  to  the  ground,  and  upon  rising  they 
look  toward  Mecca.  Wonderful  devotion — and 
yet  their  heaven  is  not  like  ours. 

Before  I  went  to  China  I  liked  the  teachings 


124  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

and  philosophy  of  Confucius,  but  when  I  began 
to  study  Confucianism  and  to  compare  it  with 
the  philosophy  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
when  I  compared  it  with  the  teachings  of  the 
Man  of  Galilee,  I  saw  the  difference  as  I  had 
never  seen  it  before.  I  had  heard  it  said  that 
Confucius  gave  what  was  in  substance  the 
Golden  Rule  in  his  teaching  of  "Do  not  unto 
others  that  which  you  would  not  have  others  do 
unto  you."  But  I  found  that  there  is  a  world- 
wide difference  between  the  negative  teaching 
expounded  by  Confucius,  and  the  positive  help- 
fulness taught  by  Christ.  It  would  be  a  cold 
world  if  we  had  nothing  better  in  it  than  the 
Confucian  form  of  the  Golden  Rule,  for  you 
could  stand  on  the  bank  of  a  stream  and  see 
your  brother  drown  and  not  be  required  to  help 
him  at  all,  for  as  you  did  not  push  him  in  you 
would  not  have  to  pull  him  out.  But  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  is  not  that.  It  is  not  a  negative 
quantity,  but  a  positive  force  in  the  world. 

Confucius  was  once  asked  if  he  could  giye  any 
word  that  would  embrace  the  whole  of  life  and 
its  relations,  and  he  asked,  "Is  not  the  word 
'reciprocal'  such  a  word!"  Then,  if  any  one 
does  a  favor  to  you,  you  must  do  a  favor  to  him 
and  try  to  keep  the  balance  even.  This  was  the 
idea  of  the  philosophy  of  Confucius.  The  idea 
of  Christ  was  that  life  should  be  like  the  over- 
flowing spring  that  pours  forth  constantly,  one 
that  refreshes  and  invigorates,  and  asks  noth- 
ing in  return.    What  a  difference  in  these  two 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  125 

statements!  Yet  there  is  a  greater  difference. 
Some  one  asked  Confucius  if  he  believed  that 
one  should  return  good  for  evil.  He  replied, 
"If  you  would  return  or  reward  evil  with  good, 
with  what  then  would  you  reward  good?  I 
would  reward  good  with  good,  and  evil  with 
justice.' '  What  a  difference  there  is  between 
that  and  the  teaching  of  Christ!  He  bids  us 
love  our  enemy  and  do  good  to  them  who  de- 
spitefully  use  us,  and  do  evil  unto  us.  Reward 
evil  with  justice?  How  can  he  know  what  jus- 
tice is,  if  there  is  revenge  in  his  heart?  How  can 
he  say  what  is  just,  if  he  looks  through  a  mist 
of  resentment?  Look  at  the  great  doctrine  of 
forgiveness  illustrated  by  Christ,  when  he  said, 
* '  Father,  forgive  them ;  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do,"  and  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  when  he 
commands  us  to  pray,  "Forgive  us  our  debts, 
as  we  forgive  our  debtors."  This  doctrine  of 
forgiveness  separates  the  philosophy  of  Con- 
fucius from  the  philosophy  of  Christ. 

I  repeat  that  I  have  come  to  appreciate  our 
Christianity  more  since  I  have  had  the  chance 
of  comparing  it  with  philosophies  of  religion 
with  which  it  comes  in  conflict.  I  am  here  to- 
night not  because  I  think  that  I  can  say  anything 
that  will  give  any  information  to  this  body  of 
Christians,  but  because  I  want  to  testify  by  my 
presence  not  only  to  my  faith  in,  but  to  my  ap- 
preciation of,  the  work  our  religion  is  doing  for 
this  world.  Why  is  it  that  we  do  not  have  our 
churches  full  of  men?    Why  is  it  that  so  small 


126  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

a  percentage  of  the  men  of  this  country  are  con- 
nected with  any  church?  Some  think  that  be- 
lief in  any  sort  of  Christian  religion  implies 
mental  weakness.  There  are  some  who  even 
boast  that  they  are  too  intelligent  to  accept  the 
Christian  faith  or  to  accept  the  creed  of  any 
church. 

When  I  was  in  college  I  used  to  know  a  man, 
an  excellent  man,  but  a  very  dissipated  man. 
I  used  to  see  him  going  home  from  his  office 
drunk,  so  drunk  he  had  to  rely  on  the  intelli- 
gence of  his  horse  to  get  him  home.  After 
I  had  become  quite  accustomed  to  seeing  him,  I 
ran  across  a  book  which  contained  a  sketch  of 
the  lives  of  the  good  men  of  his  state.  I  saw 
his  name,  and  knowing  him,  of  course  was  inter- 
ested in  the  sketch.  There  was  one  thing  in  the 
paragraph  which  impressed  me  very  much.  It 
stated  that  he  was  brought  up  in  the  Baptist 
Church,  but  that  he  got  more  liberal  as  he  got 
older.  I  used  to  think  of  his  liberality  when  I 
would  see  him  going  home  drunk.  I  wish  that 
I  might  stand  before  an  audience  of  young  men 
who  sometimes  flippantly  speak  of  their  liber- 
ality of  view,  their  breadth  of  view,  and  who 
give  this  as  their  reason  for  not  being  members 
of  the  church.  I  would  like  to  have  such  young 
men  look  into  your  faces  and  ask  themselves 
whether  in  this  audience  they  see  any  sign  or 
evidence  of  lack  of  intelligence,  lack  of  breadth 
of  mind,  lack  of  manhood  and  strength.  No, 
it  is  not  humiliating  to  admit  that  one  believes 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  127 

in  God.  The  ablest  judge  is  not  ashamed  to 
quote  almost  with  reverence  the  decisions  of 
renowned  judges  of  the  past.  No  man  in  poli- 
tics is  humiliated  when  he  quotes  from  a  good 
political  leader.  No  man  in  business  feels  hu- 
miliated when  he  subscribes  to  a  wise  saying  of 
some  good  business  man.  No  scientist  feels 
humiliated  when  he  accepts  or  uses  an  idea  that 
has  been  given  to  the  world  by  a  former  scien- 
tist. Why  then  should  I  need  be  ashamed  to 
admit  belief  in  and  reverence  for  the  great  All- 
powerful,  All-wise,  All-loving?  Is  a  man  less  a 
man  because  he  recognizes  his  own  inferiority? 
Is  he  not  the  greater  because  he  is  wise  enough 
to  see  how  small  he  is? 

"When  I  was  in  college  I  used  to  have  some 
religious  difficulty — I  passed  through  a  period 
of  skepticism, — and  it  was  then  that  I  began  to 
appreciate  the  influence  upon  me  of  my  early 
church  connections.  I  worried  about  the  theory 
of  creation,  and  at  last  I  went  back  to  the  Book 
of  Genesis  and  planted  myself  upon  the  state- 
ment that  in  the  beginning  God  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth.  I  have  been  standing 
there  ever  since,  and  I  am  willing  to  stand  there 
until  I  find  some  theory  of  creation  that  goes 
back  of  the  beginning. 

A  man  who  believes  in  the  nebular  hypothesis 
takes  for  granted  that  there  were  matter  and 
force,  and  out  of  these  two  things  a  world  was 
constructed,  but  he  believes  that  in  the  begin- 
ning there  were  matter  and  force.     He  assumes 


128  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

something  to  begin  with,  and  I  have  as  much 
right  to  assume  as  he  has,  and  if  he  assumes 
matter  and  force  to  begin  with,  I  prefer  to  as- 
sume intelligence  back  of  matter  and  force.  I 
prefer  to  assume  a  designer  back  of  the  design, 
for  my  mind  is  so  constructed  that  I  cannot 
conceive  of  a  universe  like  this  flung  into  the 
world  by  chance  and  guided  by  chance,  and  I 
must  believe  that  back  of  this  plan  there  was  a 
mind  that  planned. 

I  used  to  have  some  trouble  with  the  miracles. 
Now  I  believe  that  when  you  have  trouble  with 
anything  the  best  way  to  do  is  to  examine  it.  If 
you  have  a  horse  that  scares  at  something  in 
the  road,  if  you  get  out  and  lead  him  by  it,  he 
will  scare  the  next  time ;  but  if  you  will  take  him 
and  lead  him  up  to  it  and  let  him  see  what  it  is, 
he  will  not  scare  the  next  time.  So  when  the 
miracles  troubled  me  I  began  to  investigate,  and 
I  found  that  there  were  just  two  questions  in 
the  miracles:  Could  God  perform  a  miracle? 
And  did  he  want  to?  The  first  question  was 
easily  answered.  The  God  who  could  make  a 
world  could  do  anything  with  it  he  wanted  to, 
and  if  we  believe  in  a  God  all-powerful  we  must 
believe  in  a  God  who  could  perform  a  miracle  if 
he  wanted  to.  But  the  second  question  is  the 
one  that  has  given  the  most  trouble.  Would 
God  want  to  perform  a  miracle?  We  have  not 
had  much  trouble  with  men  who  would  investi- 
gate, but  we  have  had  trouble  with  the  man  who 
thought  he  knew  so  much  about  God  that  he 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION 


129 


could  tell  what  God  would  want  to  do  under 
certain  circumstances.  The  man  who  says  that 
God  would  not  want  to  perform  a  miracle,  as- 
sumes a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  God 
and  his  plans  and  purposes  than  I  dare  assume. 
The  older  I  grow  the  less  willing  I  am  to  make 
this  assumption.  I  find  it  so  difficult  to  tell 
what  God  wants  me  to  do  to-day  that  I  dare  not 
look  back  thousands  of  years  and  declare  in- 
fallibly what  God  might  have  wanted  to  do  in 
those  times  past. 

We  find  about  us  things  stranger  than  the 
things  at  which  men  stumble.  We  live  in  the 
midst  of  mystery.  Shall  we  believe  nothing  that 
we  cannot  understand?  Can  you  understand 
life?  Do  the  records  of  history  show  anyone  to- 
day who  knows  the  secret  of  human  life?  A  few 
weeks  ago  I  was  traveling  in  North  Carolina, 
and  among  those  on  the  train  was  a  man  whom 
I  had  known  for  a  number  of  years.  We  were 
chatting  together,  and  in  a  little  while  some  one 

came  to  me  and  said  that  Dr.  Me was  dead. 

I  went  into  the  other  car  and  there  he  was,  dead. 
What  was  it  that  had  departed?  What  is  it 
that  makes  us  to-day  living,  breathing  human 
beings,  with  our  plans,  our  hopes,  our  fears,  and 
in  a  moment  may  convert  every  one  of  us  into 
dead  men  ?  What  is  this  thing  that  we  call  life  ? 
Yet,  behold  the  civilization  of  the  world  that 
has  been  wrought  by  men  and  women,  not  one 
of  whom  knew  the  mystery  of  the  life  within 
them.    If  you  tell  me  that  mystery  must  keep 


130  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

us  out  of  the  church,  then  I  say  that  we  must 
learn  the  mystery  of  life. 

Last  year  as  I  was  eating  a  piece  of  water- 
melon I  was  impressed  with  its  beauty.  I  kept 
some  of  the  seeds  for  planting,  and  I  found  that 
it  took  five  thousand  seeds  to  make  a  pound, 
and  that  very  melon  of  which  I  was  eating 
weighed  forty  pounds.  I  found  that  one  little 
seed  put  into  the  ground  under  the  influence  of 
the  warmth  of  the  soil  would  gather  from  some- 
where two  hundred  thousand  times  its  own 
weight,  and  form  a  watermelon  the  outside  of 
which  was  green,  with  a  lining  of  white,  and  a 
core  of  red,  and  all  through  the  red  seeds  scat- 
tered every  one  of  which  was  capable  of  doing 
the  same  thing  over  again.  Where  did  it  find 
its  flavoring  extract?  Where  did  it  gather  its 
coloring  matter?  Will  any  scientist  tell  us? 
Unless  a  man  understands  how  a  little  seed  can 
build  a  watermelon  he  should  not  be  too  sure 
that  he  can  place  limitations  upon  the  arm  of  the 
Almighty. 

Mystery!  What  if  we  should  refuse  to  eat 
anything  until  we  understood  the  mystery  of 
its  growth  ?  We  would  die  of  starvation.  But 
mystery  does  not  bother  us  in  the  dining  room, 
— it  is  only  in  the  church.  Does  any  one  find 
difficulty  in  believing  in  the  doctrine  of  conver- 
sion because  it  rests  upon  the  doctrine  of  atone- 
ment? I  have  known  people  who  have  insisted 
that  everyone  should  suffer  for  himself.  Is  this 
doctrine  of  one  suffering  for  another  so  strange 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  131 

a  doctrine  as  that?  From  the  time  we  become 
conscious  of  anything  until  we  die,  we  are  con- 
stantly beholding  the  application  of  this  doc- 
trine of  others  suffering  for  us.  Take  the 
mother.  From  the  time  her  first  child  is  born, 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century  it  is  scarcely  out  of 
her  waking  thoughts.  She  sacrifices  for  it,  suf- 
fers for  it, — why!  Is  it  because  she  expects  it 
to  pay  her  back!  No  child  ever  paid  a  mother 
back;  no  child  can  pay  a  mother  back. 
In  the  course  of  nature,  what  she  has  done 
is  not  paid  back  to  her,  but  to  the  next  gen- 
eration. Each  generation  suffers,  sacrifices 
certain  things  for  the  generation  that  is  to 
come.  That  is  the  law  of  nature  and  it  is  not 
confined  to  the  home.  No  great  step  in  human 
progress  has  ever  been  taken  except  by  those 
who  have  sacrificed  for  others.  Every  great 
movement  has  back  of  it  those  who  have  given 
themselves  for  something  greater  than  them- 
selves. So  true  is  this  that  we  do  not  regard 
a  person  as  great  until  he  has  reached  a  point 
where  he  understands  how  small  he  is  compared 
with  the  things  for  which  he  works  and  lives 
and  even  dies. 

There  is  a  statement  in  the  Bible  that  some 
have  stumbled  at,  "He  that  saveth  his  life  shall 
lose  it;  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake 
shall  save  it."  Is  that  strange!  All  history 
proves  its  truth.  The  man  who  lives  only  for 
himself  lives  a  little  life,  but  the  man  who  gives 
himself  to  things  larger  and  greater  than  him- 


132  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

self  finds  a  larger  life.  Those  who  forget  them- 
selves are  the  ones  who  achieve  things,  and 
those  who  are  not  willing  to  give  time  and  life, 
and  blood,  if  necessary,  are  counted  small 
among  their  friends. 

Now  this  suffering  of  one  for  another  lies 
back  of  all  human  progress.  This  illustrates 
Christ 's  knowledge  of  human  life — the  fact  that 
he  reached  the  heart  of  the  world  by  dying  for 
the  world.  The  heart  is  touched  by  love,  and 
what  proves  love?  Not  willingness  to  enjoy, 
but  willingness  to  sacrifice;  and  when  Christ 
was  willing  to  die  he  gave  the  highest  evidence 
he  could  give  of  his  love.  I  have  found  them 
worshiping  Christ  in  Japan,  in  China,  and  in 
India  and  Egypt,  as  well  as  in  Europe,  for 
wherever  this  story  has  been  told  it  has  touched 
the  heart  of  the  world. 

If  I  were  going  to  prove  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  I  would  not  start  with  his  miracles,  but 
I  would  start  as  Simpson  started  in  that  little 
book  which  to  my  mind  is  a  wonderfully  strong 
book,  "The  Fact  of  Christ.' '  He  accepts  it  as 
a  fact  that  Christ  lived,  and  he  says  that  when 
we  come  to  contemplate  the  fact  we  realize 
somehow  that  there  is  something  in  that  fact 
that  relates  to  us.  We  can  read  that  Cicero 
lived,  that  Napoleon  lived,  and  nojt  feel  that  our 
lives  are  connected  with  theirs,  but  when  we 
read  that  Christ  lived,  and  that  he  died,  some- 
how we  feel  that  his  life  was  connected  with  our 
lives;  and  when  we  accept  the  character  of 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  133 

Christ  we  find  first  a  forgiving  spirit  and  then  a 
boundless  love,  and  we  are  impressed  with  his 
life.  We  are  impressed  with  the  humiliation  of 
his  life,  and  still  more  with  the  wonderful  spirit 
of  forgiveness  he  taught.  I  believe  that  is  the 
hardest  Christian  virtue  we  have  to  cultivate. 
It  was  once  written  on  the  monument  of  a  great 
Eoman  that  he  repaid  both  enemy  and  friend 
more  than  he  received.  That  was  not  the  spirit 
of  Christ.  Nothing  could  be  done  so  bad  but 
that  he  would  forgive.  What  a  wonderful  les- 
son in  the  spirit  of  forgiveness !  We  have  had 
the  love  of  the  parent  for  the  child,  and  of  the 
husband  for  the  wife,  but  Christ  loved  even  his 
enemies.  If  I  were  going  to  prove  the  divinity 
of  Christ,  I  would  take  simply  what  we  find  told 
of  him,  and  I  would  ask  you  to  imagine  any 
other  theory  consistent  with  the  life,  teachings, 
and  death  of  Christ  save  that  which  accepts  him 
as  divine.  Reared  in  the  home  of  a  carpenter, 
never  having  access  to  the  wisdom  of  ancient 
times,  never  coming  into  contact  with  the  wise 
men  of  his  time,  and  yet  when  less  than  thirty- 
three  years  of  age  taught  a  code  of  morality  the 
like  of  which  the  world  has  never  seen.  To  my 
mind  there  is  no  other  explanation  than  that  he 
was  divine.  If  divine,  what  humiliation  can 
there  be  in  our  accepting  him  as  a  Saviour,  as 
a  Guide,  and  as  an  Example? 

I  have  never  been  so  proud  of  my  nation  as 
I  have  been  since  I  have  had  the  opportunity  to 
see  what  it  is  doing  in  a  disinterested  way  for 


134  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

the  rest  of  the  world.  If  anyone  asks  me  for  an 
evidence  of  the  divine  origin  of  our  religion  I 
should  say  that  by  its  fruits  it  should  be  known. 
This  religion  puts  it  in  the  hearts  of  men  to  go 
abroad  and  present  this  word  of  life,  and  this 
Christ  to  the  people  who  know  him  not  now, 
and  who  are  bound  to  us  by  that  tie  only  which 
binds  every  human  being  to  every  other  human 
being. 

I  was  at  a  dinner  in  England.  We  were  dis- 
cussing different  nations  and  an  Englishman 
asked  me  what  I  thought  of  the  Englishman. 
I  told  him  that  he  had  made  large  contributions 
to  the  world's  progress,  and  mentioned  some  of 
the  things  he  had  contributed.  I  then  told  him 
that  I  thought  the  worst  objection  to  the  Eng- 
lishman was  his  commercialism.  One  of  the 
men  at  the  table  said  that  it  was  funny  to  hear 
an  American  find  fault  with  an  Englishman  on 
account  of  his  commercialism.  "Why,"  he  said, 
"we  have  always  supposed  that  Americans 
were  the  worshippers  of  the  almighty  dollar 
above  the  people  of  any  other  country."  I  said 
it  is  true  we  have  men  in  our  country  who  wor- 
ship the  almighty  dollar,  and  it  is  also  true 
that  we  have  more  altruism  in  the  United  States 
than  in  any  other  country  in  the  world.  They 
asked  me  for  my  evidence  of  this,  and  I  men- 
tioned one  evidence  that  I  thought  he  would 
recognize, — that  America,  without  drawing  one 
dollar  from  India,  sent  almost  as  much  money 
to  India  for  Christianity  and  education  as  Eng- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  135 

land  sent,  although  she  was  drawing  a  hundred 
million  a  year  from  India.  They  all  admitted 
that  this  was  good  evidence. 

In  visiting  the  Orient,  I  found  evidence  of 
America's  unselfish  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  world.  I  found  our  missions  scattered 
everywhere.  One  Sunday,  when  I  spoke  at 
Allahabad,  at  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  a  man  arose  and 
said,  "Mr.  Bryan,  do  not  measure  the  influence 
of  Christianity  upon  our  people  by  the  number 
of  church  members,  for  the  Christian  ideal  has 
made  a  far  wider  impression  than  the  church 
membership  would  indicate.  When  you  go  back 
home,  tell  the  people  that  we  appreciate  the  mis- 
sionaries and  the  teachers  they  have  sent  to  us, 
but  tell  them  that  they  have  sent  too  few  com- 
pared with  our  needs. ' '  There  I  found  teachers 
and  preachers  surrounded  by  heathenism. 
"When  I  reached  Bombay  I  found  a  school  where 
the  people  were  gathered  together  and  taught 
to  do  things,  and  were  thus  fitted  for  better  po- 
sitions. As  I  looked  at  these  things,  I  thought 
that  if  we  cannot  boast  that  the  sun  never  sets 
on  our  possessions,  we  can  boast  that  the  sun 
never  sets  on  our  American  philanthropy.  We 
have  been  talking  of  what  the  mind  can  do.  We 
think  it  a  wonderful  thing  that  a  person  can 
stand  by  the  side  of  a  telegraph  instrument  and 
by  means  of  an  electric  current  speak  to  people 
thousands  of  miles  away,  an  achievement  of  the 
head,  and  more  wonderful  still  the  heart  that 
helps  to  do  some  great  good  puts  into  motion  a 


136  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

word  which  will  speak  to  the  hearts  that  will 
beat  ten  thousand  years  after  all  of  our  hearts 
are  still. 

Who  can  measure  the  influence  of  one 
preacher  who  has  gone  out  of  America  to  the 
Orient;  who  can  measure  the  influence  of  a 
teacher  who  has  left  home  and  gone  to  carry  a 
little  of  the  higher  civilization  into  India  and 
China  or  Japan! 

I  was  reading  not  long  ago  the  story  of  the 
revival  in  Wales,  and  it  is  said  that  it  begun  in 
a  little  country  prayer  meeting.  In  that  prayer 
meeting  there  seems  to  have  been  some  hesi- 
tancy about  speaking,  when  a  little  girl  arose 
and  said  in  a  childish  voice,  "If  no  one  else 
wishes  to  speak,  I  must  say  that  I  love  the  Lord 
Jesus  with  all  of  my  heart ;"  and  it  is  said  that 
this  touched  the  hearts  of  those  who  were  listen- 
ing and  one  after  another  they  began  to  speak. 
From  that  little  prayer  meeting  there  went  forth 
an  influence  that  extended  all  over  Wales,  and 
meant  the  change  of  heart  of  tens  of  thousands. 
Who  will  measure  the  influence  of  that  little 
girl  upon  the  destiny  of  the  human  race  ? 

I  have  a  reason  for  believing  in  missionary 
work  that  I  want  to  add  to  any  reasons  that  you 
may  have.  I  believe  the  Christian  ideal  is  the 
best  ideal  of  life  the  world  has  ever  known. 
We  must  elevate  the  influence  of  that  Christian 
ideal.  Then  what  the  world  needs  to  do  more 
than  any  other  one  thing  is  to  use  the  Christian 
ideal  as  a  standard.     This  gives  me  something 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  137 

to  live  for,  and  if  this  ideal  is  good  enough  for 
us,  it  is  good  enough  for  the  people  everywhere. 
That  is  reason  enough  why  this  ideal  should  be 
carried  everywhere  and  placed  in  contrast  with 
the  lower  ideals  of  the  old  world.  This  religion 
that  we  have  is  not  a  religion  of  weakness,  but  a 
religion  of  strength.  If  there  is  anything  that 
can  make  one  strong  it  is  this  religion  that 
Christ  has  given  unto  us.  Does  it  not  give  us 
the  strength  that  conies  from  the  sense  of  over- 
ruling care?  Not  only  does  the  Bible  assert 
that  our  lives  are  precious  in  the  sight  of  God, 
but  the  poets  have  taken  up  the  theme  and 
woven  it  into  immortal  verse.  Before  I  was 
able  to  understand  the  beauty  of  it  my  father 
used  to  have  me  read  to  him  Bryant's  poem, 
The  Ode  to  the  Water  Fowl,  and  if  you  have  not 
read  it  I  would  ask  you  to  read  it  when  you  go 
home.  The  poet  takes  the  course  of  the  water 
fowl  north  and  south  to  its  home  and  follows 
it  through  all  its  wanderings,  and  in  conclusion 
he  says : 

He  who  from  zone  to  zone 

Guides  through  the  endless  way  thy  certain 
flight. 
In  the  long  way  that  I  must  tread  alone, 

Will  lead  my  steps  aright. 

Christians,  what  is  it  worth  to  me  to  believe 
that?  What  is  it  worth  to  be  able  to  stand  on 
the  promise  of  divine  care?    Who  will  measure 


138  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

the  comfort  that  has  been  brought  into  the  world 
by  the  belief  in  immortality?  And  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  evidences  of  immortality  are  so 
strong  that  we  should  not  need  to  have  one  rise 
from  the  dead  to  convince  us  that  the  grave  is 
not  the  end.  It  seems  that  everything  that  has 
a  voice  tells  us  that  there  is  life  beyond.  God 
gives  us  the  sweet  assurance  of  another  spring- 
time. Will  he  neglect  his  word  ?  Now  I  am  as 
sure  that  man  lives  beyond  the  grave  as  I  am 
that  I  am  living  to-day,  but  Christ  has  given  us 
a  new  assurance  of  this.  And  what  Christian 
would  place  a  price  upon  the  comfort  that  has 
been  brought  to  his  heart  by  this  confident  belief 
that  in  another  world  we  shall  meet  those  whom 
we  have  loved  here?  Ah,  what  a  strength  that 
gives  us !  If  anyone  ought  to  be  strong  in  this 
world  it  is  the  Christian.  If  any  one  ought  to 
work  with  courage  it  is  the  Christian,  for  he 
believes  in  God,  he  believes  in  the  omnipotent 
Father,  and  no  word  spoken  in  behalf  of  truth 
is  spoken  without  avail. 

An  old  colored  man  once  described  faith  as 
having  confidence  that  God  would  do  what  he 
promised.  He  said  that  if  God  told  him  to  butt 
his  head  through  a  stone  wall  he  would  butt,  for 
that  was  his  part;  getting  through  the  wall  was 
the  Lord's  part.  I  have  never  heard  a  better 
illustration  of  faith  in  the  better  things  of  this 
world  to  be  done  by  people  who  have  faith 
enough  to  butt  their  heads  against  what  seems 
a  stone  wall  and  trust  God  to  open  the  way. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  139 

I  visited  Eome  and  walked  round  the  walls  of 
the  colosseuni  and  my  mind  ran  back  to  that 
colosseum  when  the  Christian  martyrs  were 
slain  in  the  arena.  They  were  taken  there  to 
make  a  spectacle  for  the  people,  but  they  raised 
their  hands  to  heaven  and  prayed.  It  seemed 
as  if  this  would  do  no  good,  and  that  their  cause 
would  be  lost,  but  in  a  few  decades  their  faith 
triumphed  over  all  the  world.  I  can  imagine 
that  at  this  time  there  were  skeptics  who  said 
to  these  people,  "Why  die?  Why  not  recant 
and  live?  Maybe  after  a  while  you  can  do 
something. "  But  they  did  not  fear  to  die,  and 
by  dying  they  accomplished  more  than  they 
could  have  accomplished  by  their  lives.  It  is 
said  that  those  who  went  to  scoff  and  laugh  at 
these  spectacles  went  away  asking  what  it  was 
that  entered  the  hearts  of  these  martyrs  to 
make  them  die  as  they  did.  The  testimony 
which  they  gave  by  the  strength  of  their  con- 
victions brought  conviction  to  the  hearts  of 
those  who  had  been  unbelievers  before.  I  have 
asked  myself  over  and  over  again  what  would 
have  been  the  fate  of  the  Christian  Church  if 
the  earlier  Christians  had  had  as  little  faith  as 
some  of  our  modern  Christians  seem  to  have.  I 
have  asked  myself  how  long  it  would  take  to 
bring  the  time  promised  when  every  knee  shall 
bow  to  Christ  and  every  tongue  confess  him,  if 
we  the  Christians  of  to-day  had  the  faith  and 
courage  of  the  Christians  of  the  earlier  days. 
Our   religion   gives   us   strength,   and   in   this 


140  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

strength  we  can  go  forth  to  fight.  We  can  pre- 
sent this  gospel,  believing  that  it.  is  the  gospel 
which  appeals  to  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men. 
We  can  present  this  teaching  that  Christ 
gave,  confident  that  no  other  philosophy  com- 
pares with  it.  Other  teachers  have  given  to  the 
disciples  a  more  or  less  worthy  method,  but  ours 
gives  us  a  heart  of  love  that  conquers  every- 
thing. Our  religion  is  built  upon  love,  and  love 
is  the  greatest  force  in  the  world. 

I  heard  a  preacher  in  New  York  illustrate  the 
difference  between  force  and  love.  He  repre- 
sented force  by  a  hammer.  He  said  that  you 
could  take  a  hammer  and  a  piece  of  ice  and 
break  the  ice  into  a  thousand  pieces,  but  yet 
every  piece  would  still  be  ice.  But  a  ray  of 
sunshine  quietly  falling  on  the  ice  would  melt 
it  and  there  would  be  no  ice.  That  ray  of  sun- 
shine illustrates  the  influence  of  love.  Ours  is  a 
religion  of  love,  and  love  is  the  basis  of  brother- 
hood, and  brotherhood  is  the  thing  that  binds 
us  together.  That  this  love  which  has  taken 
thousands  into  foreign  lands  to  give  their  lives 
for  Christ  ought  to  be  sufficient  for  you  and  for 
me  to  lead  to  make  us  make  whatever  sacrifice 
duty  calls  for.  There  is  this  about  a  sacrifice, 
that  whenever  we  look  back  over  our  lives  we 
find  that  the  brightest  spots  are  not  the  days 
when  people  have  done  something  for  us,  but 
the  days  that  are  hallowed  by  our  contribution 
to  the  welfare  of  the  world.  God  has  so  or- 
dained that  by  letting  him  live  in  our  lives  he 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  141 

not  only  allows  us  to  realize  the  relief  that  we 
have  in  love,  but  to  find  the  happiness  that  can- 
not be  found  in  any  other  way. 

I  am  glad  that  God  did  not  make  our  happi- 
ness depend  upon  the  possession  of  this  world's 
goods,  or  on  our  position  in  society,  or  even  on 
honor  at  the  hands  of  the  people,  but  that  he 
gave  us  a  recipe  for  happiness  that  puts  it 
within  the  reach  of  every  human  being  toward 
God  and  man. 


XI 

ADDBESSES  AND  CONFERENCE 

H.    C.    GARA,    PRESIDING 

BROTHERHOOD:     ITS    NEED    IN    THE    CHURCH 
BY  PAUL,  C.  MARTIN 

"But  one  more  organization  is  needed  in  our 
country  to-day,"  it  has  been  cynically  re- 
marked, "and  that  one,  a  society  for  the  sup- 
pression of  superfluous  societies.' '  The  blessing 
pronounced  on  him  who  caused  two  blades  of 
grass  to  flourish,  where  but  one  grew  before, 
has  not  been  extended  to  the  one  who  multiplies 
organizations. 

We  often  become  weary  of  the  increase  of 
organized  effort,  we  chafe  under  the  restraints 
of  constitution  and  by-laws,  and  when  a  new 
propaganda  is  suggested,  especially  one  de- 
signed to  operate  along  lines  of  religious  en- 
deavor, the  cui  bono  question  is  immediately 
asked,  and  he  who  would  stand  as  the  advocate 
of  a  new  society  must  be  able  to  demonstrate, 
first,  that  a  need  exists,  and  second,  that  the 
proposed   organization   will   best    supply   that 

142 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  143 

need.  Our  active  business  man  of  to-day,  al- 
though immersed  in  organized  effort,  after  in- 
stalling a  new  sales  organization  or  modern 
cost  system,  after  consigning  without  a  pang  of 
regret,  a  mass  of  old  machinery  to  the  scrap 
heap  and  putting  new  in  its  place,  will  never- 
theless, as  he  turns  the  pages  of  his  religious 
journal,  note  with  some  skepticism  the  pro- 
posed building  of  a  new  piece  of  religious  ma- 
chinery, and  will  make  the  half -conscious  com- 
ment, "More  organization,  more  new  machin- 
ery, and  for  what  end?" 

As  advocates  of  Presbyterian  Brotherhood, 
can  we  answer  that  question?  As  we  ask 
our  mother  church  to  install  this  new  and  un- 
tried mechanism,  can  we  show  her  any  vital, 
underlying  reasons,  why  we  have  a  right  to 
ask  it,  and  why  we  believe  it  will  accomplish 
something  which  is  worth  the  doing,  and  will 
do  it  in  a  better  way! 

The  Brotherhood  is  an  organization,  and  an 
organization  is  in  its  essence  a  piece  of  machin- 
ery; in  this  instance,  religious  machinery.  It 
is  not  an  end,  but  a  means,  and  like  other  ma- 
chinery, not  of  itself  a  creator  of  power,  but  a 
developer  and  adapter  of  power.  Conse- 
quently, in  contemplation  of  this  new  mechan- 
ism for  which  we  are  asking  a  place,  my 
thoughts  have  wandered  to  a  consideration  of 
some  of  the  fundamental  mechanical  principles 
which  are  at  the  root  of  the  effectual  working 
of  all  machinery,  and  in  search  of  some  of  these 


144  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

truths  I  have  found  myself  in  the  realm  of 
physics. 

And  I  find  among  the  laws  of  physics  there 
are  two  great  divisions:  on  the  one  hand,  dy- 
namics, which  is  the  science  of  motion,  of  move- 
ment, of  power:  on  the  other,  statics,  the  sci- 
ence of  bodies  in  equilibrium  or  balance. 
Power  and  balance  are  two  hemispheres  of  the 
physical  world. 

In  the  field  of  religious  endeavor,  particu- 
larly as  it  touches  the  lives  of  men,  we  need  just 
those  two  elements,  power  and  balance.  Men 
need  power,  i.  e.,  spiritual  dynamic  force,  and 
they  also  need  balance,  which  implies  equilib- 
rium. In  our  examination  of  this  new  ma- 
chinery, we  must  therefore  test  it  by  the  dy- 
namic and  static  principles  in  the  lives  of 
men. 

Can  our  Brotherhood  assist  in  developing  and 
adapting  power?  Can  it  assist  in  maintaining 
the  equilibrium  and  balance  of  a  man's  life, 
swaying  as  it  does,  under  manifold  pressures 
from  without  and  within?  If  so,  it  will  have 
a  definite  basis  for  existence ;  and  as  the  skilled 
mechanic  applies  the  laws  of  physical  dynamics 
and  statics  in  his  testing  of  new  machinery,  may 
we  not  consider  for  a  moment,  by  analogy, 
whether  the  dynamics  and  statics  of  the  reli- 
gious life  of  men,  in  other  terms,  their  power 
and  balance,  will  be  served  and  furthered  by 
this  new  piece  of  religious  mechanism? 

Turning  first  to  the  dynamic  side,  the  realm 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  145 

of  movement,  of  power,  of  activity,  we  ob- 
serve : 

(1)  That  the  successful  application  and  use 
of  power  comes  only  through  organized  me- 
chanical effort,  or  in  fine,  through  machinery. 
The  history  of  inventive*  genius  is  the  story  of 
the  organization  of  mechanical  parts,  that  power 
might  be  developed  and  quickly  and  accurately 
transmitted  in  the  greatest  possible  amount  to 
the  place  where  it  is  needed.  A  steam  engine, 
disorganized,  or  in  other  words,  dismantled,  in 
a  machine  shop,  is  a  sorry  sight.  Its  parts, 
disunited  and  scattered,  are  powerless.  But 
fit  them  together,  organize  your  machinery,  ad- 
just part  to  part,  giving  each  some  work  to  do 
in  its  proper  place,  and  the  organized  machine 
will  use  the  life  giving  power  which  it  receives, 
will  develop  and  apply  it. 

Many  a  church  contains  the  parts  of  disman- 
tled machinery;  the  parts  are  scattered,  unor- 
ganized, hence  cold  and  motionless.  Here  is 
a  steam-box  capable  of  holding  power-giving 
pressure :  here  a  piston  rod  firm  and  unyielding, 
but  effective  when  in  the  right  place:  here  a 
safety  valve  noisy  and  demonstrative  at  times, 
but  occasionally  very  useful:  and  here  is  the 
air-brake,  the  check,  and  conservative  force 
which  sometimes  avoids  the  collision.  Do  these 
parts  of  a  machine  lie  scattered  in  your  church! 
If  so,  you  dare  not  scorn  the  use  of  any  or- 
ganizing force  which  will  pick  them  up,  adjust 
part  to  part,  make  a  machine  of  them  if  you 
10 


146  THE   PEESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

will,  but  a  machine  throbbing  with  life,  a  means 
for  the  transmission  of  power.  We  believe  that 
organized  effort  will  utilize  idle  material  in  our 
churches,  and  will  be  a  vehicle  for  the  trans- 
mission of  power  to  the  places  where  it  is  most 
needed.  That  is  one  principle  of  religious  dy- 
namics. 

(2)  Again,  it  is  a  dynamic  principle  that  there 
must  be  point  of  union  or  contact  between  the 
source  of  power  and  the  object  to  be  moved, 
or  upon  which  the  force  is  to  operate.  In  the 
mechanical  world,  what  forms  this  union? 
What  connects  the  roaring  furnace  of  the  power 
house  with  the  distant  car  to  be  moved  on- 
ward? Nothing  but  machinery,  organized,  me- 
chanical parts. 

In  the  world  about  us,  the  object  to  be  moved 
onward,  or  rather  upward,  is  the  great  inert 
mass  of  worldliness,  of  commercialism,  of  mate- 
rialism, as  we  find  it  in  the  office,  the  factory, 
the  market  place.  Here  is  the  church,  our 
power  house,  our  generator  of  vital  force; 
there  is  the  opposing  mass,  the  world  of  busi- 
ness, of  labor,  of  careless  indifference  to  the 
things  of  the  spirit.  The  contact  is  lacking. 
There  is  another  justification  for  the  Brother- 
hood. The  men  of  our  church  are  in  contact 
with  the  world.  They  meet  it  daily  upon  its 
great  battle  field,  they  are  a  part  of  its  life. 
The  minister  cannot  have  that  intimate  point  of 
contact.  The  faithful  mothers  in  Israel  touch 
but  the  fringe  of  the  garment  of  that  world's 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  147 

life.  They  have  the  power,  but  lack  the  con- 
tact. Bring  the  men  into  vital,  active  connec- 
tion with  the  church,  her  aims,  her  movements, 
and  as  they  touch  both  the  source  of  power  and 
the  world,  you  have  built  a  bridge  possibly  a 
slender  human  span,  but  none  the  less  a  bridge, 
across  the  chasm  which  separates  the  church  in 
her  organized  life  from  the  seething,  troubled, 
restless  mass  which  we  call  the  outside  world. 
Establish  the  contact  between  the  church  and 
the  world  of  men  through  organized  manhood, 
and  you  apply  to  religious  life  another  principle 
of  dynamics  and  test  yoar  machinery  by  that 
truth. 

Many  are  the  other  principles  of  dynamics, 
the  laws  of  force,  which  bear  a  greater  or  less 
analogy  to  the  use  and  application  of  religious 
activity  and  power,  but  I  am  reminded  that  the 
dynamic  side  of  a  man's  religious  life,  its 
power,  its  movement,  its  activity,  is  not  its  all. 
As  in  physics,  so  in  religion  there  is  a  static 
side,  which  embraces  the  problem  of  maintain- 
ing equilibrium,  in  sustaining  the  man's  bal- 
ance. A  body  remains  in  physical  equilibrium 
becausQ  the  pressures  upon  it  are  equalized, 
and  do  not  over-balance  one  another.  The  life 
of  a  man,  social,  moral,  spiritual,  is  the  result 
in  part  at  least,  of  intangible,  sometimes  in- 
definable, pressures.  Organization  of  every 
kind  presses  upon  him:  organized  commercial- 
ism; organized  political  power;  yes,  organized 
evil.     Often  the  one  or  the  other  pressure  be- 


148  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

comes  too  great  and  the  man's  equilibrium  is 
gone.  Intensify  too  strongly  the  organized 
commercial  pressure  without  some  organized 
force  to  oppose  it  and  the  man  loses  his  balance 
and  falls  into  the  slough  of  sordid  money  get- 
ting or  active  dishonesty.  Let  the  pressures  of 
passion  or  appetite  become  too  strong  for  the 
other  pressures  and  it  destroys  his  equilibrium 
and  sends  him  reeling  into  the  gutter.  A  law 
of  statics  has  been  broken.  To  maintain  the 
proper  balance  of  the  man,  other  strong,  or- 
ganized countervailing  pressures  must  be  sup- 
plied. A  host  of  organizations  press  upon  him 
for  a  share  of  his  thought  and  his  life :  organ- 
ized political  effort,  fraternal  life,  social  life, 
commercial  interest.  Organization  must  be 
met  with  organization,  if  the  life  of  the  spirit 
is  to  have  any  part.  Why  not  organize  reli- 
gious effort  of  men  among  men,  to  supply  a 
pressure  on  the  other  side,  to  assist  in  keeping 
the  man's  balance,  to  draw  him  aside  from  time 
to  time  in  fraternal  conference,  and  press  upon 
him  the  truth,  that  there  is  a  life  beyond  the 
counting  room  or  the  market  place?  Men  need 
that  pressure ;  it  can  best  be  supplied  by  organ- 
ized effort.  Pressure  from  without  the  church 
must  be  met  by  pressure  from  within,  and  thus 
we  apply  a  truth  which  the  science  of  statics 
brings  to  us. 

But,  it  may  be  urged,  to  create  and  maintain 
that  balance  in  the  life  of  men,  you  are  trying 
to  set  up  artificial  props,  and  when  they  fall 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  149 

or  are  taken  away,  the  man  loses  his  balance. 
The  prop  may  be  a  temporary  necessity  or  aid 
to  the  individual  man.  It  is  true  that  something 
more  must  come. 

In  transplanting  a  beautiful  and  stately  plant 
in  my  garden,  I  have  seen  it  droop  and  fall.  I 
have  then  tried  to  follow  the  laws  of  statics  and 
prop  it  up,  supplying  pressure  here  and  pres- 
sure there,  until  it  is  again  upright.  The  re- 
sult is  not  wholly  satisfying;  but  even  while 
temporary  equilibrium  is  being  maintained,  a 
change  appears  and  life  comes  and  there  is  a 
vital  flow  of  life  giving  fluid  through  its  veins ; 
its  leaves  slowly  unfold,  its  branches  stiffen, 
the  props  fall,  their  work  complete,  and  the 
plant  sways  safely  before  the  pressures  of  the 
winds,  but  does  not  fall,  because  it  has  for  it- 
self found  the  source  of  life,  has  drawn  that 
vitality  unto  itself  and  is  able  to  maintain  its 
own  balance,  its  own  equilibrium,  so  long  as  it 
continues  to  drink  in  that  life  giving  power. 

If  our  Brotherhood  can  so  press  upon  the 
lives  of  men,  by  the  prop  of  social  comrade- 
ship, of  intellectual  interest,  of  active  social 
endeavor  for  those  about  him,  that  the  man's 
balance  may  be  maintained  against  the  great 
storms  of  the  world  which  beat  upon  him,  until, 
as  Channing  finely  says,  "the  spiritual  shall 
grow  up  unbidden  and  unconscious,  through  the 
common,"  then  it  will  have  found  its  place  in 
the  life  of  the  men  of  our  common  faith.  But 
that  hidden,  vital  life  must  come,  must  "grow 


150  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

up  through  the  common,"  must  in  the  end  pen- 
etrate every  method,  every  fibre  of  our  organ- 
ization, or  it  will  remain  mere  machinery,  and 
will  not  become  a  living,  breathing  organism. 

But,  it  is  urged,  that  this  is  a  proposition 
to  install  more  machinery  into  our  religious 
life,  and  machinery  is  so  prone  to  get  out  of 
order,  and  we  fear  that  in  many  a  church,  some 
day  there  will  be  a  rumble,  a  roar  in  this  mech- 
anism, and  there  may  not  be  an  expert  mechanic 
at  hand  and  then  a  crash  will  come,  and  after 
that,  silence,  and  the  church  will  be  strewn  with 
the  wreckage. 

Come  with  me  into  a  great  power  house. 
There  is  the  harmony,  the  quiet  working  of 
mighty  dynamic  force.  The  great  fly  wheels 
turn  swiftly,  but  as  silently  as  the  planets  in 
their  courses,  and  the  mighty  shafts  rock  to  and 
fro  with  the  silent  movements  of  a  monster  of 
the  deep.  It  is  the  quiet  of  perfect  adjustment 
and  use  of  power.  But  presently  a  rumble  is 
heard,  a  hiss  of  heated  friction  of  part  with 
part,  and  then  the  sullen  muttered  roar  of  a 
giant  in  agony.  But  the  watchful  master  engi- 
neer, from  his  vantage  ground,  notes  the  symp- 
toms, hastens  to  the  place,  and  with  a  skillful 
touch  of  adjustment  he  calms  the  pain  of  the 
great  mechanism  and  pours  upon  it  the  oil  of 
soothing,  his  touch  being  as  the  touch  of  a  cool 
hand  upon  a  fevered  brow,  and  once  more  the 
wheels  turn  swiftly  and  silently,  and  the  shafts 
swing  with  the  quiet  harmony  of  perfect  power. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  151 

In  this  Brotherhood  of  men,  this  machinery 
which  has  come  into  the  life  of  your  church, 
possibly  friction  will  come,  noise,  outcry,  lack 
of  power  due  to  want  of  adjustment.  Have 
we  not  a  watchful  master  Craftsman,  whose 
touch  upon  the  souls  of  men  is  strong  and  sure ; 
who  can  pour  upon  them  the  oil  of  his  spirit, 
soothing  the  heated  parts  of  our  organized  life 
until  harmony  and  perfect  power  shall  come 
again! 

Shall  we  not  urge  at  least  a  testing  of  this 
new  machinery  by  our  church,  because  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  it  will  aid  in  the  devel- 
opment and  application  of  power,  will  carry  the 
power  where  it  is  most  needed,  will  supply  a 
valuable  and  needed  point  of  contact  between 
the  church  and  the  world,  and  will  assist  in 
maintaining  the  balance  of  men  amid  the  pres- 
sures of  the  strong  forces  about  them,  until  life 
comes  and  has  a  chance  to  grow  in  the  midst 
of  the  storms  of  this  world!  That  life,  the 
church  needs.  To  that  end,  it  needs  the  Broth- 
erhood. 

H.  C.  Gara. — Our  speaker  has  spoken  of  keep- 
ing the  machine  in  perfect  balance.  Some  four 
or  five  years  ago  a  gentleman  stepped  up  to  me 
in  Philadelphia  and  said,  "Gara,  a  fellow  paid 
me  the  greatest  compliment  I  know  of."  I 
said,  "What  was  it?"  He  said,  "He  called  me 
a  double  crank, ' '  and  I  said,  '  *  Double  crank  ?  I 
fail  to  see  the  compliment."    He  said;  "It  is. 


152  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

A  single  crank  is  a  crank  that  is  never  in  bal- 
ance." Now  let  us  hear  from  these  double 
cranks  for  they  are  always  in  balance. 

W.  M.  Hindman. — Touching  the  question  of 
power,  I  had  a  friend  in  a  theological  seminary 
who  wished  to  become  a  missionary.  The  of- 
ficers of  the  seminary  hesitated  to  my  knowledge 
for  more  than  three  months,  because  he  was  so 
poor  a  linguist.  They  questioned  whether  he 
could  learn  the  language  or  not.  By  and  by, 
they  acceded  to  his  request  and  he  went  to 
China.  He  had  been  in  the  compound  but  two 
days  when  he  went  out  on  the  streets  and  came 
back  and  told  the  missionaries,  "I  have  had  my 
first  conversation  in  Chinese."  "You  have," 
they  said;  "why  you  don't  know  anything 
about  Chinese."  "Oh,  yes  I  do,"  he  said. 
"How  was  it?"  they  asked.  He  said:  "I  saw 
a  great  big  moon-faced  Chinaman  coming  up 
the  street  and  he  came  to  me  in  all  his  glory. 
He  looked  at  me  and  then  extended  his  hand 
and  said  something  in  Chinese.  I  shook  my 
head,  and  said  something  in  English.  He 
shook  his  head.  He  seemed  to  be  a  little  bit 
puzzled.  He  looked  at  me  and  grasped  my 
hand  with  much  warmth,  and  said,  ' Jesus.' 
And  I  looked  at  him  and  said,  'Jesus;'  and  he 
looked  down  into  my  soul  and  I  looked  into  his 
soul."  He  said,  "Oh,  that  was  a  glorious  con- 
versation, my  first  conversation  in  Chinese!" 
"It  is  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  sustaining  me," 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  153 

said  Paul,  and  every  Christian  worker  and 
body  of  workers  such  as  our  Brotherhood  must 
be  bound  up  in  that  one  blessed  word,  "Jesus," 
and  our  power  must  come  from  him.  Apply 
the  life  of  Christ  to  the  machinery  of  the  Broth- 
erhood and  we  will  have  a  perfect  machine. 

Me.  Gara. — The  need  of  the  Brotherhood  in 
our  church  is  the  question. 

Mervin  J.  Eckels,  D.D. — I  have  listened  with 
great  interest  to  this  address  and  I  have  just 
been  thinking  of  the  form  of  power  that  we 
could  make  use  of,  and  I  could  not  deny  that  it 
might  be  met  with  the  objection  to  which  refer- 
ence has  been  made  that  the  church  is  itself  sup- 
posed to  furnish  the  power  and  is  supposed 
through  its  members  to  furnish  the  point  of  con- 
tact. I  cannot  get  rid  of  this  objection,  but  do 
ask  that  an  answer  be  given  as  to  why  we  need 
a  machine  within  a  machine.  It  is  not  an  objec- 
tion at  all,  but  I  am  not  clear  in  my  mind  how  I 
could  make  answer  to  that.  I  should  be  glad 
to  hear  something  to  cover  that  point.  It  is  the 
only  point. 

Paul  C.  Martin. — I  am  not  a  mechanic.  I 
do  not  know  that  I  can  discuss  the  question 
along  mechanical  lines,  but  it  seems  it  is  simply 
a  case  of  extension  of  the  machinery,  as  when 
the  object  to  be  moved,  or  the  part  upon  which 
the  power  is  to  operate,  has  grown  distant 
from  the  original  power  plant,  and  we  have  to 


154  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

extend  the  belting  and  the  power.  It  is  not  ex- 
actly installing  a  new  plant,  but  an  extension 
of  the  belting  and  shafting  to  the  new  place 
of  contact. 

Ezra  Newcome,  D.D. — I  will  just  give  a  prac- 
tical illustration  by  saying  that  we  have  had 
a  Brotherhood  in  the  First  Westminster  Parish 
for  over  eight  years.  During  that  time  we  have 
had  two  series  of  evangelistic  services.  As  I 
look  over  the  list  of  men  who  came  into  the 
church  at  that  time  I  discover  that  almost  every 
one  of  them  came  because  through  the  Brother- 
hood we  had,  during  the  previous  two  or 
three  years,  come  into  some  kind  of  friendly 
and  sympathetic  touch  with  them,  so  that  when 
the  opportunity  arose  the  men  of  the  Brother- 
hood could  go  to  these  men  whom  we  knew  in  a 
personal  way  and  say  to  them :  "  You  are  stand- 
ing on  the  edge  of  things.  Come  inside."  The 
Brotherhood  was  extending  the  power  just  as 
Mr.  Martin  has  said,  to  reach  those  men  who 
are  a  little  too  far  away  for  the  ordinary  church 
agency,  a  little  too  far  away  for  the  pastor  and 
the  evangelist,  but  just  near  enough  to  be 
reached  by  personal  touch  by  a  friend  and  with 
the  point  from  which  to  make  the  contact.  And 
the  men  who  came  into  our  church  came  by  the 
power  we  were  able  to  exert  through  the  Broth- 
erhood, and  it  will  do  as  much  for  you. 

Mr.  Halsey. — I  may  cast  a  little  light  on  the 
question.     You   may   have    seen   the   machine 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  155 

which  makes  baskets.  It  does  everything  but 
think.  Its  motions  are  almost  human.  The 
material  goes  in  at  one  end  and  the  finished 
basket  comes  out  the  other,  and  the  ordinary 
motions  of  machinery  in  a  circle  seem  to  be  re- 
versed. They  are  erratic.  I  asked  the  me- 
chanic what  the  principle  was,  and  he  said  the 
fundamental  principle  was  that  of  the  cam 
wheel,  an  originally  circular  wheel  into  the  cir- 
cumference of  which  projections  have  been 
forced  to  meet  special  needs  along  the  line 
of  movement  in  that  machine,  and  wherever 
a  peculiar  motion  of  the  machinery  was  re- 
quired to  do  a  special  thing  the  line  of  the 
wheel  was  deflected  until  finally  the  wheel  was 
not  circular  but  undulating.  Now  I  believe  we 
have  in  the  church  the  foundation,  the  circle, 
and  that  this  special  organization  such  as  our 
Brotherhood  with  which  we  mean  to  do  a  spe- 
cial work,  is  the  cam  upon  the  circle  of  the 
church  put  forth  for  a  special  call  to  do  a  spe- 
cial thing. 

Me.  Koberts. — I  believe  we  ought  to  have  the 
Brotherhood  in  the  church  in  order  to  get  the 
men  at  work.  We  have  evangelistic  committees 
in  the  Brotherhood  going  out  to  some  of  the 
neighborhood  churches,  and  on  one  occasion  a 
short  time  ago  a  committee  went  into  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  city.  The  pastor  told  me  that 
at  the  conclusion  of  that  service  every  man  in 
that  church  had  caught  the  spirit  of  doing  some- 


156  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

thing  himself,  and  it  was  the  best  service  he 
had  had  in  his  church  for  many  years.  I  be- 
lieve that  is  exactly  the  thing  we  want  to  do  in 
order  to  press  the  need  of  the  Brotherhood  in 
the  churches  so  that  the  members  can  teach 
other  men  what  to  do. 

Mr.  Wetterstein. — Just  a  word  in  specific 
answer.  It  is  a  well  recognized  principle  with 
those  who  work  among  men  that  the  men  out- 
side of  the  church,  or  the  men  in  the  church 
who  have  failed  in  their  religious  professions, 
will  respond  better  to  a  force  of  organized  men 
than  they  will  to  any  other  religious  agency, 
and  Brother  Eckles  may  say  to  the  people  who 
object  to  additional  machinery  in  his  church, 
that  there  is  no  agency  which  will  reach  men 
that  is  so  effective  as  organized  laymen  devoting 
their  time  specifically  to  bringing  men  to  Christ. 

Mr.  Faut. — Many  of  us  would  like  to  have 
an  outline  of  the  programmes  of  the  Brother- 
hoods already  organized,  telling  us  how  often 
the  meetings  are  held,  what  you  discuss  in 
these  meetings,  what  forms  of  Christian  serv- 
ice are  undertaken,  such  as  personal  work, 
philanthropy.  Many  of  us  would  like  to  hear 
the  briefest  possible  statement  from  the  Broth- 
erhoods which  have  heretofore  been  insti- 
tuted. 

K.  R  Bigger,  D.D. — I  wish  to  answer  in  six 

sentences  why  we  should  have  Brotherhoods : — 

First,  if  we  want  men  we  must  win  them. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION 


157 


Second,  if  we  want  men  to  be  useful  we  must 
use  them.  Third,  if  we  want  them  to  be  inter- 
ested in  Christian  work  we  must  interest  them. 
Fourth,  if  we  do  not  teach  and  practice  Broth- 
erhood, some  other  body  will.  Fifth,  if  all  our 
societies  are  for  young  people,  children,  and 
the  older  women,  where  will  the  men  take  hold 
if  we  do  not  provide  a  work  for  them  in  our 
churches?  Sixth,  if  the  men  are  won  to  Chris- 
tian fellowship  and  work  their  families  will  fol- 
low them ;  the  hearts  of  the  women  and  children 
will  be  gladdened  and  all  will  be  one  in  their 
interests,  labors,  and  hopes  for  Christ's  king- 
dom in  the  home. 

H.  C.  Gaea. — Last  Sunday  night  I  had  the 
privilege  of  speaking  at  a  Brotherhood  meeting 
which  took  place  at  the  close  of  the  evening 
service  in  a  Baptist  church.  I  am  a  Presbyter- 
ian but  I  was  in  a  Baptist  church.  Afterwards, 
I  learned  that  out  of  forty-two  men  converted 
to  the  church  in  that  slum  district,  seven  are  re- 
formed drunkards.  Now  if  we  want  anything 
to  illustrate  the  need  of  that  in  the  church — 
I  don't  know  whether  your  churches  have 
drunkards,  but  they  have  some  about  the 
church  if  they  are  not  in — and  I  don 't  know 
anything  that  better  illustrates  the  need  of  the 
Brotherhood  in  the  church  than  the  possibility 
of  getting  reformed  drunkards  into  the  church, 
and  we  will  get  reformed  Christians  into  the 
church  too. 


153  THE   PRESBYTEEIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

Mr.  Palmer. — The  question  I  wish  to  ask  and 
ask  for  information  is  this :  Our  present  theme 
is,  "The  development  of  the  Brotherhood  in 
the  church."  In  my  church,  and  I  presume  in 
yours,  a  few  of  the  men  are  interested  in  these 
things.  Their  hands  are  filled  with  Christian 
work.  Many  men  are  not  interested  in  any 
kind  of  Christian  work.  How  are  we  going  to 
develop  these  in  the  individual  churches!  That 
is  the  question  I  would  like  to  have  answered. 

Mr.  McLanahast. — Our  church  is  the  oldest 
in  Baltimore  and  men  in  it  do  not  know  each 
other ;  men  going  there  all  their  lives,  prohably, 
have  never  spoken  to  each  other.  Nobody  in- 
troduces strangers  to  the  other  members.  Now 
we  formed,  about  eighteen  months  ago,  a  men's 
society  in  the  church;  started  out  on  social 
lines ;  began  with  a  social  meeting ;  had  a  prom- 
inent speaker,  and  introduced  everybody  to 
everybody  else.  Since  then  we  have  got  it  in  a 
more  spiritual  way;  developed  a  boys'  club;  got 
one  hundred  and  seventy  or  one  hundred  and 
eighty  boys  in  the  club.  We  have  done  some 
outside  prayer  meeting  work  in  South  Balti- 
more. Before  we  began  these  things  every- 
body said,  "We  do  not  know  what  to  do.  We 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  church.  There  is 
no  place  for  us."  After  we  formed  this  society 
and  got  this  thing  started,  one  line  of  work  af- 
ter another  opened  up  until  we  are  getting  every 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  159 

man  in  the  church  interested  in  some  position 
that  he  can  fill. 

Mr.  Moment,  of  New  Jersey. — I  simply  want 
to  say  that  three  or  four  of  these  questions  may 
be  answered  in  the  same  way.  We  formed  in 
our  church  a  club  of  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  members  two  or  three  years  ago.  We  have 
that  club  because  we  believe  the  men  of  the 
church  ought  to  be  organized,  and  the  idea  we 
hold  up  before  the  men  is  not  that  they  should 
have  a  men's  club  but  that  there  is  a  certain 
amount  of  work  that  the  average  man  ought  to 
do.  We  believe  the  only  way  they  can  do  that 
work  is  to  organize.  The  object  is  not  the  club, 
but  the  work,  and  that  is  the  reason  I  believe  in 
the  vitality  of  this  organization.  It  is  not  a 
question  of  organizations  in  the  church,  the 
question  is  as  to  their  utility,  and  I  believe  or- 
ganization will  go  on  whatever  we  do  or  decide 
because  as  Dr.  McAfee  said,  the  men  have  seen 
something;  they  have  had  a  vision,  and  they 
will  go  on  and  we  cannot  by  a  vote  do  away  with 
men's  organizations.  They  will  not  perish. 
The  men  have  seen  the  work  and  they  must  do 
it,  and  the  best  way  is  to  organize. 


XII 

BROTHERHOOD:  ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN 
THE  CHURCH 

BY   JOSEPH   ERNEST   MCAFEE 

The  church  is  a  living  organism.  It  grows. 
Its  parts  and  members  are  not  the  fabrication 
of  somebody's  hammer  and  saw.  When  some- 
body so  far  mistakes  the  genius  of  its  construc- 
tion as  to  inflict  upon  it  his  carpenter  methods, 
the  weather  and  the  exigencies  of  the  elements 
soon  make  his  mistake  apparent.  The  church 
must  grow.  It  suffers  from  being  patched  up ; 
when  the  patches  begin  to  sluff  off,  the  spec- 
tacle is  the  chagrin  of  men  and  angels. 

The  Brotherhood  is  a  symptom  of  growth ;  it 
came  because  it  had  to ;  it  is  an  indication  of  the 
church 's  quickened  life.  Or  if  it  is  not,  may  the 
Lord  have  mercy  upon  us  and  upon  it.  We 
shall  soon  be  in  his  hands  with  the  paint  all 
rubbed  off  and  looking  so  run  down  that  we  shall 
be  sorry  ever  to  have  been  exposed  to  the 
weather.  If  the  Brotherhood  shall  be  con- 
strued as  somebody's  patch  nailed  on  in  the  ex- 
citement and  stress  of  the  moment  to  shut  out 
the  weather  for  a  season  or  two,  why,  that  is 

160 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  161 

what  it  is ;  and  we  shall  be  compelled  to  put  up 
with  its  unsightliness  as  best  we  may,  until 
some  new  carpenter  shall  arrive,  to  strike  off 
the  warped  clapboards  and  decorate  the  church 
with  a  new  patch.  But  if  the  Brotherhood  is 
what  you  and  I  have  full  faith  to  believe  it  is, 
and  must  commit  ourselves  anew  and  anew  to 
making  it  become — an  evidence  of  the  Church's 
quickened  life — then  we  do  not  witness  here 
the  awakening  of  a  giant  to  stretch  himself  and 
try  his  strength.  Each  new  trial  will  quicken 
all  the  vital  processes,  and  put  him  in  finer 
fettle  for  doughtier  tasks. 

Methodism  is  a  terrible  affliction.  I  mean, 
you  must  understand  methodism.  Methodism 
as  an  historical  development  of  the  church  uni- 
versal, is  a  benign  display  of  the  divine  grace. 
The  Methodists  are  the  chosen  of  the  Lord, 
God's  saints  set  to  sanctify  all  the  church.  But 
methodists  are  the  peculiar  affliction  of  each 
branch  of  believers,  permitted  of  an  inscrutable 
providence  as  the  church's  thorn  in  the  flesh; 
used  of  the  divine  grace,  doubtless,  but  effectual 
only  in  the  buffeting  of  the  church  into  a  sense 
of  human  incapacity.  It  has  been  the  fate  of 
some  of  the  most  promising  movements  of  the 
church's  history  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
methodists.  What  sets  out  with  being  the  gra- 
cious display  of  vital  functioning,  winds  up  with 
being  a  machine  whose  creaking  and  rumbling 
drowns  the  voice  of  the  worshipers  and  shocks 
away  all  sentiments  of  devotion.  What  starts 
11 


162  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

out  with  being  a  veritable  moving  of  the  divine 
Spirit  through  the  church,  conies  out  ere  long 
into  being  a  grotesque  god  on  wheels  which  the 
church  must  forever  after  use  its  good  energies 
in  tugging  along  in  the  ruts.  The  church  has 
often  found  itself  engaged  with  its  own  devises 
somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the  old  negro 
Isam,  who,  when  attacked  by  a  belligerent  goat, 
seized  the  animal  by  the  horns.  Straining 
every  muscle  to  hold  on  in  sheer  self  defense, 
he  shouted  aloud  to  his  old  master,  "Massa 
Cra'fud!  Massa  Cra'fud!  Come  here,  Massa 
Cra'fud,  and  help  dis  nigger  turn  dis  goat 
loose."  It  has  oftentimes  been  found  easier  to 
take  hold  than  to  let  go. 

.  I  have  not  yet  heard  any  one  say  with  pre- 
cision just  what  this  Brotherhood  is  to  accom- 
plish, nor  offer  minute  direction  as  to  how  it  is 
to  go  about  its  business.  I  hope  to  the  bottom 
of  my  heart  no  one  will  try.  None  has  yet  ap- 
peared with  hammer  and  saw  to  cut  up  the 
Brotherhood's  lumber  for  it  and  tell  it  precisely 
how  the  sticks  are  to  be  nailed  together. 
Therein  appears  the  pledge  of  the  Brother- 
hood's richest  life.  Pray  God  that  none  may 
shackle  the  men  with  restricting  rules  as  to 
when  and  where  and  how  their  activities  shall 
be  exercised.  May  the  Lord  deliver  the 
Brotherhood  from  the  bondage  of  method,  the 
intolerance  of  formularies,  the  grind  of  ma- 
chinery for  the  machine's  sake.  Let  us  learn 
the  characteristic  American  art  of  utilizing  the 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  163 

junk  heap.  Worn  out  machinery  belongs  there, 
and  when  there  is  where  it  belongs,  so  there  can 
be  no  sacrilege  in  putting  it  there.  I  hope  the 
Brotherhood  will  never  abrogate  the  principle 
of  local  option  in  church  enterprise.  The  vari- 
ous agencies  of  the  organism  need  to  grow  by  a 
wholesome  cooperation,  not  by  a  slavish  mimic- 
ry each  of  the  other.  It  is  to  aim  at  the  true 
unity  of  diversity,  the  ideal  e  pluribus  unum 
of  efficiency ;  as  Herbert  Spencer  might  say,  the 
final  homogeneity  of  a  facile  heterogeneity. 
The  Brotherhood  must  depend  upon  its  purpose 
to  define  and  cement  its  unity,  and  not  depend 
upon  its  modes  and  forms.  The  letter  will  kill ; 
depend  upon  the  spirit  to  give  life. 

There  you  come  upon  the  true  motive  power 
and  moving  efficiency  of  this  enterprise.  It 
is  a  tremendous  spiritual  force.  It  has  too 
much  of  the  life  of  the  spirit  in  it  to  be  molded 
and  chopped  off  in  rigid  blocks.  It  lives,  and 
if  it  is  fit  further  to  exist,  it  must  continue  to 
live.    It  is  a  great  spiritual  energy. 

Which  does  not  mean  that  it  froths  and  effer- 
vesces, but  implies  quite  the  contrary.  It  lives, 
and,  please  God,  is  always  to  gain  its  energy 
from  the  life  of  the  Spirit.  I  have  said  that 
fortunately  no  one  has  attempted  to  prescribe 
just  what  the  Brotherhood  is  to  accomplish,  nor 
define  minutely  the  scope  of  its  operations.  Yet 
it  may  be  ventured  that  no  movement  in  the 
history  of  the  modern  church  has  sprung  from 
so  unequivocal  a  desire  to  get  something  done. 


164  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

Every  one  who  has  sounded  the  mind  of  the 
church's  manhood  must  have  discovered  a 
deeply  moving  revolt  against  a  spirituality  gone 
a-glinmiering,  an  impassive,  do-nothing  relig- 
ion. This  movement  means  that  the  manhood 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  grown  ashamed 
of  itself  and  of  the  society  in  which  it  dwells 
and  of  the  supineness  of  a  church  which  ac- 
tively leads  in  too  few  of  the  movements  of  so- 
ciety's best  life,  and  follows  but  languidly  in 
some  others,  contributing  but  slightly  of  her 
energies  either  in  leadership  or  in  backing.  If 
there  is  anything  the  men  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  do  wish,  it  is  to  do  things,  to  make  their 
churchmanship  a  power  and  not  merely  a  pro- 
fession, to  push  and  to  pull  in  all  the  might  of 
their  manhood,  striving  toward  the  worthy  ends 
revealed  by  grace  and  gumption.  "When  I  call 
this  a  spiritual  movement,  I  mean  to  claim  for 
it  not  less  the  power  of  the  spirit  than  the  lib- 
erty of  the  spirit. 

Well  then,  what  is  this  movement  to  get  ac- 
complished? That  is  what  I  say  again  I  do  not 
know, — and  am  mighty  glad  nobody  else  pre- 
tends to.  But  that  it  is  to  get  something  done, 
there  is  abundant  token  at  every  turn.  It 
stands  for,  and  please  God  will  everywhere  is- 
sue in,  manly,  Christly  activity.  It  may  be  said 
in  the  large  what  will  be  accomplished.  It  has 
often  been  said  from  this  platform,  with  vary- 
ing degrees  of  emphasis  upon  this  or  that  de- 
tail, and  by  those  of  vision  from  varying  points 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  165 

of  view.  But  none  pretends  to  know  all  it  will 
accomplish.  It  will  do  so  many  things  they  can- 
not be  catalogued.  God  only  knows  what  it 
will  not  do.  Even  if  it  shall  make  mistakes, 
the  divine  patience  will  doubtless  not  be  sur- 
prised, only  saddened.  There  is  certainly  no 
lack  of  things  needing  to  be  done. 

If  the  deeper  history  of  this  movement  were 
traced  it  would  be  found  to  spring  from  a  quick- 
ening of  conscience,  and  it  will  issue,  depend 
upon  it,  in  a  progressive  and  deepening  con- 
sciencefulness.  Men  demand  the  right  to  live 
and  do  business  and  complete  the  day's  work 
with  clean  hands  and  pure  hearts.  They  de- 
mand the  right  to  succeed  in  life's  avocation 
and  be  honest  at  the  same  time.  The  men  of 
the  church  mean  to  guarantee  that  right  to  all. 
They  mean  to  make  the  church  an  organized 
force  for  righteousness,  in  loyalty  to  the 
church's  traditions.  They  have  no  notion  of 
allowing  churchmanship  to  be  the  cloak  of  those 
whose  methods  in  the  world  of  affairs  demand 
such  gloss  of  concealment;  nor  will  they  allow 
activity  in  the  church  to  become  the  popular 
diversion  of  those  whom  intellectual  and  moral 
incapacity  shuts  out  of  success  in  the  more 
strenuous  lines  of  endeavor.  Men  mean  to 
make  churchly  obligations  strenuous  enough  to 
furnish  field  for  the  exercise  of  the  most 
doughty. 

The  church  through  this  movement  is  to  be 
set  upon  serious  endeavor.    It  will  not  be  so 


166  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

easy  to  attempt  only  easy  things,  and  then  con- 
gratulate ourselves  so  complacently  upon  our 
success.  First  thing  you  know,  the  things 
really  needing  to  be  done  will  get  done.  Our 
best  present  achievement  will  appear  how  far 
short  of  sufficient,  as  we  contemplate  the  dry 
rot  and  the  dank  rot  of  so  many  sorts  of  evil 
eating  into  the  life  of  our  society.  The  real 
issues  of  social  and  individual  regeneration  are 
coming  to  the  light,  and  sturdy  men  are  being 
struck  purposeful  by  the  revelation.  It  is  be- 
ginning to  appear  how  deep,  into  the  moralities, 
runs  what  ails  us  as  a  people.  The  real  mis- 
sion of  the  church  in  our  society  is  being  dis- 
covered. The  church  means  no  longer  to  stand 
aloof  but  it  presumes  to  press  in,  to  be  militant 
against  the  bad  and  to  champion  the  good. 

It  is  not  posible,  is  it,  that  these  churchmen 
will  dabble  in  politics !  No,  they  will  not.  One 
may  not  presume  to  say  when  and  where  their 
enterprises  may  touch  upon  politics,  but  assur- 
ance may  be  given  that  when  and  where  they 
do,  these  men  will  not  dabble.  They  will  go  in 
with  coats  off  and  sleeves  rolled  up  to  the 
shoulder.  On  the  Sunday  preceding  election 
day  I  stepped  out  of  an  old,  old  church  in  one 
of  our  large  cities,  and  found  the  most  of  the 
session  collected  on  the  street  corner  talking 
politics.  If  I  may  believe  my  blinking  eyes, 
there  was  a  halo  of  godliness  overshadowing  the 
spot  where  they  stood !  The  serious  righteous- 
ness of  their  conversation  converted  the  street 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  167 

corner  into  a  very  Shiloh.  They  came  finally 
to  no  unanimous  decision  on  any  point,  except 
that  each  would  make  his  franchise  count  for 
what  would  make,  in  his  judgment,  for  the  com- 
pletest  righteousness  in  their  community. 

The  church  is  not  a  political  club,  and  if  any 
one  has  the  first  notion  of  committing  the  folly 
of  attempting  to  turn  it  into  one,  a  little  expe- 
rience ought  to  convince  him  of  his  blunder. 
This  movement  among  men  offers  no  sugges- 
tion that  the  church  is  going  into  politics.  But 
it  does  indicate,  among  other  things,  that 
churchmen  take  themselves  seriously  as  citizens 
of  a  Christian  commonwealth,  and  that  they 
accept  their  churchmanship  as  committing  them 
to  the  business  of  making  their  society  in  real- 
ity what  it  is  in  name — Christian. 

Men  of  the  church  are  getting  together  be- 
cause they  crave  the  moral  support  each  of 
the  other  in  the  intensely  spiritual  labor  of 
drawing  individual  fellowmen  under  the  mas- 
tership of  the  Man  of  Galilee,  the  supreme  ob- 
ligation of  every  man;  and  because  they  de- 
mand the  puissance  of  mass  movements  in  the 
task  of  making  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  the 
Christ  of  God  an  actuality  in  their  day. 

There  are  no  new-fangled  ideas  being  ex- 
ploited to  revolutionize  and  recast  the  church's 
ideals,  as  I  take  it.  It  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped 
that  some  things  wjll  henceforth  be  performed 
differently.  Some  of  the  present  methods  of 
the  church  enterprise  must  be  taken  bravely 


168  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

in  hand  for  readjustment  if  any  real  progress 
is  to  be  made.  Some  of  our  brand-new  prob- 
lems must  be  faced  as  such,  and  the  utmost  sa- 
gacity of  American  ingenuity  and  the  finest 
forcefulness  of  American  energy  must  be 
brought  into  play  in  their  solution.  But  there 
is  essentially  nothing  new  under  the  sun  except 
goodness  and  badness,  and  they  are  already  as 
old  as  God  and  the  Devil.  This  is  no  new  de- 
velopment in  the  church;  it  is  the  old  church 
taking  on  new  life,  feeling  her  keep  of  the  di- 
vine providence,  shamed  out  of  her  laziness  by 
the  divine  grace,  quickened  by  spiritual  endue- 
ments  into  spiritual  aggressiveness.  No  new 
departments  of  church  endeavor  are  to  be  es- 
tablished except  those  demanded  by  a  new  spir- 
itual opportunity.  No  old  agencies  worthy  of 
support  are  to  feel  less  than  others  the  impetus 
of  this  new  pulsing  of  energy.  This  movement 
means  that  the  church  of  Christ  is  throbbing 
with  new  spiritual  vigor.  It  does  not  mean  that 
the  church  has  previously  fallen  from  grace, 
since  it  is  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  its  Cal- 
vinism would  not  hear  to  such  a  thing. 

This  movement  does  mean,  however,  that  the 
church  is  falling  into  grace,  and  that  it  is  tak- 
ing the  plunge  with  right  good  grace,  for  once 
not  stickling  for  the  sprinkling  process.  It 
means  the  least  of  all  that  the  activity  of  the 
church  is  being  methodized,  and  it  means  most 
of  all  that  all  of  its  methods  are  being  spiritual- 
ized. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  169 

Spirituality  is  the  capacity  for  and  practice 
of  vision-seeing.  The  prophet  is  the  consum- 
mate artist  of  the  spiritual  functions.  The 
men  of  the  church  have  been  seeing  things ;  that 
is  what  ails  them.  They  will  not  awaken  to 
shake  off  the  delusion  with  a  jest.  Their  vision 
is  not  a  delusion.  They  have  seen,  and  are  to 
see  more  clearly,  what  no  man  whose  heart  God 
has  touched  can  see  and  not  thrill  with  the 
energy  of  achievement.  They  have  caught  the 
vision  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  a  redeemed  so- 
ciety, the  tabernacle  of  God,  established  among 
men.  They  have  seen  the  New  Jerusalem  com- 
ing down  out  of  heaven,  and,  best  of  all,  coming 
down  out  of  heaven.  You  may  expect  now  to 
see  some  of  the  hard  tasks  of  the  church's 
mission  of  redemption  undertaken  and  brought 
to  a  glorious  issue.  Individuals  and  sections 
of  society  hard  to  reach,  the  men  will  undertake 
to  reach.  Inspired  by  their  vision,  I  expect  to 
see  men  rise  above  the  pettiness  which  strives 
for  the  triumph  of  the  moment,  and  sits  down 
impotent  before  achievements  too  large  for  to- 
day. 

I  expect  to  see  men  undertaking  such  large 
things  and  such  hard  things  and  such  long 
things,  as  shall  give  evidence  of  their  living 
the  life  of  the  spirit,  wherein  they  partake  of 
the  very  thought  and  counsels  of  God.  That 
the  business  of  the  church  is  big  and  hard  will 
be  its  inspiration.  An  eagerness  to  undertake 
such  business  will  be  the  mark  of  having  seen 


170  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

God  and  learned  of  him  his  age-long,  eternity- 
wide  intentions  for  his  church.  Spiritual  vis- 
ion is  power.  If  the  men  have  really  caught 
the  vision  of  a  saved  manhood,  a  world  fit  for 
God  to  dwell  in,  and  fit  for  honest  men  to  do 
business  in  and  serve  God  in  and  minister  in 
good  conscience  to  their  fellows  in,  then — every 
crushed  and  enthralled  fellowman  look  up  and 
hope,  and  the  Christ  of  God  accept  the  fulfill- 
ment of  his  soul-travail ;  for  the  spiritual  king- 
dom of  the  Saviour  of  men  will  become,  not  as  a 
vague  promise,  but  as  a  present  reality. 


XIII 

BROTHERHOOD:    RESPONSIBILITIES 

BY   CHAS.   W.   GORDON,   D.D.,    ("  RALPH   CONNOR") 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen: — I  come 
from  a  country  that  is  somewhat  unknown,  I 
am  afraid,  to  many  of  you.  I  had  begun  to 
think  during  these  last  two  or  three  years  that 
Canada  had  been  discovered  by  the  American 
people.  But  last  night  that  conviction  of  mine 
received  rather  a  rude  shock.  For,  as  I  was 
sitting  at  a  table  with  a  gentleman  who  seemed 
to  be  possessed  of  really  more  than  ordinary 
intelligence,  and  we  were  taking  a  quiet  drink 
together  (it  was  an  American  drink,  and  so 
quite  safe)  he  asked  me,  when  I  was  talking 
about  Winnipeg  a  little  and  the  country  up 
there,  "Why,  do  you  grow  wheat  up  there V9 
I  took  a  drink.  We  do  the  things  there — we 
try  to — just  as  you  do  here ;  those  things  that 
God  lays  upon  us  and  from  which  we  cannot 
escape. 

I  believe  that  the  influence  of  this  conven- 
tion will  not  cease  to  be  felt  until  it  has  reached 
across  the  border,  and  away  up  back  over  the 
prairies  and  over  the  mountains  of  British  Col- 

171 


172  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

umbia.  I  remember  bearing  once  my  very 
good  and  well-beloved  friend,  Henry  Drum- 
mond,  tell  a  story  of  a  man  on  one  of  bis  west- 
ern trips.  While  driving  along  tbe  western 
coast  among  tbe  big  trees,  be  was  seeking  to  get 
information  about  tbe  trees  from  tbe  stage 
driver;  and  as  tbey  came  from  one  big  tree  to 
anotber  be  would  ask  hhn,  "How  mucb  lumber 
do  you  tbink  tbere  is  in  tbat  tree  ? ' '  Tbe  driver 
would  say,  "I  don't  know."  As  tbey  came  to 
anotber  tree  be  would  ask,  "How  tbick  is  tbat 
tree  ? ' '  Tbe  driver  would  say, ' '  I  don 't  know. ' ' 
As  tbey  came  to  anotber,  "How  big  round  is 
tbat  tree?"  "I  don't  know."  At  last  tbey 
came  to  a  great  tree  lying  prone.  "I  say," 
said  tbe  man,  "bow  mucb  cordwood  would  tbat 
tree  cut  up  into?"  Tbe  driver  said,  "Say, 
stranger,  I  don't  know,  but  when  it  fell  tbe  ecbo 
lasted  two  weeks."  I  believe  tbe  ecbo  of  tbis 
convention  will  resound  over  tbe  continent,  and 
it  is  my  very  bumble  bope  tbat  I  may  be  able 
to  carry  back  witb  me  sometbing  of  tbe  strength 
and  sanity  and  business  alertness — wbicb  is  a 
very  difficult  tbing  for  a  clergyman  to  carry — 
sometbing  of  tbe  business  alertness  to  my  own 
country  and  our  own  work. 

I  said  in  our  country  we  try  to  do  tbe  work 
tbat  God  lays  upon  us.  I  would  bave  you  tbink 
— as  perhaps  you  are  not  able  to  tbink — tbat 
in  tbat  country,  which  you  are  beginning  to 
know  and  to  discover,  we  have  perhaps  the 
largest  home  mission  field  in  the  world.    For 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  173 

practically  all  that  lies  west  of  the  great  lakes 
and  between  the  Rockies  and  the  Pacific  Ocean 
is  one  great  mission  field.  It  is  true  there  are 
lines  of  railway  pushing  their  way  across,  but 
those  lines  simply  mean  the  extension  of  the 
field;  and  for  more  than  a  thousand  miles,  for 
more  than  fifteen  hundred  miles  one  way,  and 
from  three  hundred  to  nine  hundred  miles  the 
other  way,  there  stretches  before  our  church 
that  great  mission  field.  And  so  our  work 
takes  on  a  special  feature,  a  kind  of  type  of  its 
own,  and  that  type  I  have  wished  to  put  in  this 
way  and  in  this  phrase : 

The  business  of  the  Christian  missionary 
with  us  is  the  business  of  piloting.  "We  know 
there  in  the  western  country  missionaries  and 
ministers  do  not  always  receive  the  courtesy 
and  reverence  and  respect  that  their  cloth  de- 
mands, and  so  they  are  called  by  various  names. 
The  common  name,  and  the  very  common  name, 
the  name  that  has  seemed  to  me  the  very  ac- 
ceptable name,  is  the  name  of  the  ' '  Sky  Pilot. ' ' 
Sometimes  he  is  called  by  other  names  more 
graphic  but  not  quite  so  euphonious,  as  for  in- 
stance, "The  Fire  Escape.' '  But  I  accept  the 
name  of  the  "Sky  Pilot' '  for  the  missionary. 
I  accept  the  name  of  the  "Sky  Pilot"  for  the 
Christian  man,  and  I  do  believe  that  it  sets  be- 
fore us — and  I  hope  to  set  it  before  you  this 
morning — one  phase,  at  least,  of  the  great  re- 
sponsibility that  lies  upon  Christian  manhood. 
Now  before  we  assume  any  responsibility  I  be- 


174  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

lieve  it  is  a  wise  thing  for  us  by  careful  exam- 
ination and  by  elimination  of  things  that  are  not 
true  and  are  not  real,  to  discover  just  exactly 
what  is  the  thing  we  as  Christian  men  must  in- 
dividually take  upon  our  shoulders,  hold  fast 
to,  and  try  with  what  manhood  we  have  to  set- 
tle. What  is  the  responsibility  represented  in 
this  movement  of  the  Brotherhood?  What  is 
the  responsibility  that  I  think  of  when  I  say  that 
every  Christian  man  is  a  pilot?  I  want  to  say 
first  of  all  by  way  of  elimination  there  are  sev- 
eral things  we  are  not  going  to  assume  to  do 
or  become  responsible  for.  For  instance,  I 
gladly  say  it  is  not  my  responsibility  and  no 
part  of  my  work  as  a  Christian  man  to  save  men 
from  sin.  When  I  was  younger  and  I  think 
more  ambitious  than  I  am  now  I  used  to  think 
it  was  part  of  my  business  to  save  men,  and  I 
gave  much  time  to  it,  and  I  gave  the  passion  of 
my  heart  to  it  at  times  when  God  bore  hard  up- 
on me,  but  in  my  despair  I  realized  at  last  to  my 
great  relief  that  to  save  men  was  not  my  busi- 
ness. It  is  not  our  business,  it  is  not  my  re- 
sponsibility as  a  pilot  to  make  men  good,  to 
take  the  evil  out  of  their  hearts,  to  make  them 
love  high  and  pure  things.  This  is  not  my  re- 
sponsibility. But  this :  It  is  my  responsibility 
that  I  be  a  pilot  to  men.  It  is  my  responsibility 
that  by  what  I  am  and  by  the  methods  I  adopt 
and  by  the  forces  I  gather  unto  my  soul  from 
whatever  source  those  forces  may  come  of  in- 
telligence or  of  judgment  or  of  a  warmer  and 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  175 

deeper  force  of  the  heart,  I  recognize  this  as 
my  responsibility,  that  I  stand  between  men 
who  do  not  know  the  way  to  Christ,  whom  to 
discover  is  everlasting  life.  So  my  responsi- 
bility that  I  gladly  assume,  assume  because  the 
best  experience  of  my  life  is  this,  that  I  stand 
before  the  lost  men  and  show  them  the  way. 
If  it  is  my  good  fortune,  by  God's  grace,  that 
I  do  bring  a  man  to  Christ,  then  I  feel  that  I 
have  done  the  thing  that  my  Saviour,  my  Lord 
and  Master  asked  of  me  when  he  said,  "Go  out 
and  disciple  men;  go  and  bring  them  to  me." 
It  is  a  vast  relief  to  lay  the  burden  of  saving 
upon  the  Saviour.  It  is  a  vast  relief  to  lay 
this  work  of  creating  anew  the  heart  of  men 
upon  the  Creator  himself.  So  let  us  say  and 
pass  away  from  it  that  the  responsibility  that 
the  Brotherhood  here  represents,  that  all 
Christian  service  represents,  is  simply  this: 
That  by  the  light  in  us,  by  what  God  has  done 
for  us,  and  all  that  we  have  been  able  to  gather 
to  ourselves,  we  shall  show  men  the  way  to 
Christ. 

I  would  like  to  say  before  leaving  that  part 
of  my  subject  that  this  responsibility  is  not 
something  we  take  on  as  a  kind  of  extra  service. 
It  is  not  that.  The  ordinary  Christian  man  has 
a  certain  amount  of  ordinary  work  and  a  cer- 
tain number  of  ordinary  obligations  to  fulfill, 
but  that  the  man  who  aspires  to  high  things 
and  to  a  higher  type  of  service  will  assume  this 
responsibility    of    showing   men   the    way.     I 


176  THE  PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

would  like  to  feel  anew,  I  would  like  especially 
to  ask  you  gentlemen  to  feel  anew  to-day,  that 
this  responsibility  is  the  supreme  fact  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  not  something  we  can  either  take  to 
ourselves  or  lay  aside.  We  can  lay  it  aside, 
yes,  we  may  lay  it  aside  as  the  man  who  lays 
aside  the  duty  to  defend  his  country  from  inva 
sion,  but  at  the  expense  of  honor  and  manhood. 
We  may  lay  aside  this  responsibility  and  give 
it  to  certain  of  those  who  we  think  are  inter- 
ested above  the  ordinary  run  of  Christians  and 
let  them  be  the  leaders  and  guides  to  Christ, 
but  we  do  so  at  the  expense  of  our  sense  of 
loyalty  to  him  who  himself  first  led  us,  first 
showed  us  the  beautiful  way,  and  then  said, 
1  'Let  this  be  a  light  unto  other  men." 

Now  suppose  a  man,  face  to  face  with  this 
work  of  piloting,  essays  to  begin  his  work.  I 
want  to  select  two  or  three  things  that  ought 
to  test  him  in  his  thought  and  feeling.  I  take 
this  as  the  first:  The  man  who  undertakes  to 
show  the  way  must  first  himself  be  certain 
about  the  way.  I  was  lost  only  once  on  the 
prairie.  That  was  a  very  trying  experience. 
I  was  always  so  much  afraid  of  being  lost  that 
I  was  continually  taking  my  bearings.  But 
once  I  was  lost;  and  the  reason  was  that  I 
didn't  pay  any  attention  to  my  bearings,  and 
the  reason  for  that  was  I  had  a  fellow  with  me 
who  thought  he  knew  the  way.  I  followed  him 
careless  of  my  surroundings  until  he  discovered 
first  and  then  I  that  we  were  both  lost.     He 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  177 

was  lost  and  he  bad  lost  ine.  So  that  I  believe 
the  very  fact  that  we  have  to  assume  the  re- 
sponsibility for  the  showing  of  the  way  to  any 
man  makes  it  tremendously  important  that  we 
should  see  clearly  and  know  definitely  certain 
things  about  the  way.  Thank  God,  we  do  not 
need  to  know  all  about  it!  Thank  God,  we  do 
not  need  to  know  all  about  Christian  truth  and 
doctrine !  How  good  it  is  that  God  does  not  bless 
a  man  in  his  service  in  this  work  of  piloting 
in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  his  theological  or 
other  knowledge.  But,  brethren,  it  is  abso- 
lutely essential — and  my  short  experience  in 
this  business  and  all  the  experience  of  you  men 
here  responds  to  mine  in  this — that  we  must 
know  a  few  things  and  we  must  know  them  ab- 
solutely. 

May  I  ask  your  consideration  and  forgive- 
ness if  I  refer  here  to  "The  Pilot"  as  known 
through  the  book,  "The  Sky  Pilot"?  I  do  so 
because  I  know  more  about  him  and  his  work. 
And  if  I  refer  now  and  then  to  this  friend  and 
and  brother  of  mine,  I  always  see  him  out  there 
upon  his  broncho — if  I  do  you  will  understand 
I  am  not  advertising  "The  Sky  Pilot,"  because 
I  think  all  of  you  have  read  it.  I  think  at  the 
first  service  the  pilot  conducted  in  the  Swan 
Creek  saloon — you  will  remember  how  the 
young  chap  fresh  from  college  began  with  the 
story  of  feeding  the  five  thousand — and  after  he 
was  through  Hi,  I  think,  spoke  up,  and  said,  "I 
say,  how  many  loaves  did  you  say  1 "  "  Five. ' ' 
12 


178  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

"And  how  many  men  there?"  "Five  thou- 
sand." He  said,  "Well,  that  is  a  little  too 
unusual  for  me."  And  as  Bill  said  after- 
wards to  his  friend,  remonstrating  upon  the 
interference  of  this  youth,  he  had  floundered 
round  worse  than  a  rooster  in  the  dark.  He 
had.  The  boy  was  not  good  at  arguing. 
He  had  not  his  evidence  clearly  in  his  head 
and  was  not  strong  in  reasoning.  But  as  the 
day  progressed  and  as  he  saw  the  men  progress 
from  one  stage  of  carousal  into  another  this 
is  the  thing  that  came  into  his  mind:  "I  know 
I  am  right.  I  know  I  am  right."  My  dear 
friends,  you  will  be  challenged  in  a  thousand 
ways.  You  will  be  challenged  at  every  point 
of  your  work,  but  you  want  to  be  able  to  stand 
back  and  say  this:  "When  I  speak  about  the 
things  of  God  I  am  not  going  to  speak  widely, 
'But  I  do  know  the  things  whereof  I  speak/  " 
You  will  find  as  you  begin  your  work  that  there 
will  be  many  things  about  which  you  must 
frankly  confess  ignorance.  The  pilot  who 
knows  everything  and  knows  about  all  countries 
and  all  trails  is  not  the  pilot  for  me.  I  want  the 
pilot  that  knows  this  trail,  that  runs  over  this 
prairie  and  through  yonder  canyon  and 
emerges  at  my  cabin,  and  if  he  knows  that,  that 
is  good  enough  for  me.  It  does  not  disturb 
me  if  he  does  not  know  the  trails  that  run  off 
in  this  direction.  So  let  us  confess  frankly  to 
men,  and  they  will  be  surprised  to  hear  you 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  179 

make  confession  that  there  are  a  number  of 
things  you  do  not  know. 

After  you  have  thus  taken  him  into  your  con- 
fidence do  not  let  him  go  without  telling  him 
this,  too,  that  there  are  two  or  three  things 
that  you  do  know  a  great  deal  better  than  he 
does. 

Now,  perhaps  I  may  pass  on  to  say  that 
another  very  important  qualification  for  us 
who  are  trying  to  show  men  the  way  is  not 
simply  the  sense  of  certainty  about  a  few 
things,  but  it  is  wise  for  us  to  gather  up  these 
things  and  relate  them,  not  to  Bibles  or 
churches  or  creeds  or  organizations — these  are 
difficult  to  carry  around — but  relate  these  few 
similitudes  of  yours  to  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  great 
Person.  Men  who  cannot  appreciate  theologi- 
cal distinctions  or  theological  definitions  re- 
spond to  the  touch  of  the  human  heart  and  a 
human  hand.  You  remember  in  that  religious 
poem,  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  how  the 
man  so  sorely  afflicted  going  through  the  dark 
valley,  whose  very  first  hope  and  whose  very 
first  inspiration  was  gathered  from  this :  In  the 
darkness,  while  all  those  sounds  were  about 
him,  coming  up  through  the  depths,  struggling, 
feeling  his  way,  he  heard  the  voice  of  a  man. 
My  dear  friends,  after  all  God  himself  cannot 
get  at  us  until  we  see  him  in  form.  It  is  for 
this  that  we  have  Jesus  Christ  among  us.  So 
take  our  similitudes,  our  few  truths — I  only 
had  about  three  when  I  began  to  preach  to  the 


180  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

men  in  Black  Rock — but  take  your  similitudes 
and  link  them  to  the  great  present.  They  will 
carry  a  man  a  long  way.  May  I  say  this  also? 
With  that  sense  of  certitude  directed  to  Jesus 
Christ  I  would  add  this :  A  sense  of  possession ; 
a  sense  of  worth.  There  is  nothing  that  so 
demoralizes  our  forces  in  making  an  attack  or 
approach  to  men  whom  we  think  we  should  like 
to  lead  in  a  way,  nothing  demoralizes  us  as 
when  we  look  at  them  and  discover  that  they 
are  so  perfectly  content  with  themselves.  They 
are  sleek  and  well-to-do;  they  have  nothing 
amiss  with  them;  they  want  nothing;  and  you, 
the  poor  little  missionary,  what  can  you  give 
them?  This  is  the  overpowering  sense  that 
comes  upon  a  man.  And  may  I  refer  to  the 
western  work  again?  There  comes  a  man 
who  makes  his  entry  into  a  town  in  the  full, 
splendid  swing  of  its  work  and  its  triumphant 
cries — He  slips  in.  He  is  there  to  do  a  certain 
work.  Nobody  wants  him.  Nobody  needs  him. 
I  remember  a  pilot  who  slipped  into  a  mining 
town  and  the  paper  came  out  the  next  day  with 
a  very  strong  protest.  This  paper,  by  the  way, 
eliminated  all  capitals  from  its  type.  Even  the 
name  of  Almighty  God  was  spelled  with  a  small 
"G."  This  paper  announced  that  this  partic- 
ular settler  was  absolutely  unnecessary  to  the 
community  and  the  sooner  he  departed  the 
better.  Reflect  on  the  sensation  I  have  no 
doubt  the  missionary  had  in  his  own  mind! 
But  a  man  must  recover  himself  from  that.     A 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  181 

man  must  get  so  deep  down  into  the  facts  of 
which  he  has  knowledge,  and  must  so  refresh 
his  memory  of  these  facts,  that  there  grows 
into  him  a  sense  of  worth  and  possession.  He 
wants  so  to  think  about  the  things  of  life  about 
him  and  so  to  fit  them  into  his  own  experience 
that  he  will  be  able  to  say  what  the  pilot  of 
Swan  Creek  said  that  night  when  the  boys  were 
all  drunk  and  carousing  and  making  a  horrible 
exhibition  of  their  weakness,  degradation,  and 
need — this  was  the  word  that  came  to  him — 
his  first  expression  was,  "I  know  I  am  right/' 
and,  his  second  was,  "They  cannot  do  without 
Him."  Brethren,  let  me  say  it  will  help  you, 
as  it  has  helped  me  many  and  many  a  time,  to 
look  men  in  the  face,  though  they  are  rich  and 
increased  with  goods  and  seem  to  need  nothing, 
and  you  will  discover  that  they  are  poor  and 
wretched  and  miserable  and  blind  and  naked, 
and  they  shall  have  no  gold,  tinsel,  and  raiment 
to  sell,  and  no  eye  salve  with  which  they  may 
anoint  their  eyes  and  see. 

If  we  move  on  toward  our  man  with  this 
sense  of  richness  about  us  it  will  give  a  dignity 
to  our  whole  bearing.  It  will  give  a  sense  of 
strength  to  our  attack  that  will  make  it  almost 
impossible  for  a  man  to  resist.  At  least  it  will 
prevent  this  and  it  is  a  thing  hard  to  bear; 
it  will  prevent  the  man  from  being  perfectly 
easy  and  perfectly  comfortable  when  we  go 
away  and  leave  him  with  his  poverty,  or,  as 
he  may  think,  with  his  wealth.     He  may  have 


182  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

a  kind  of  vision  through  his  blindness  that 
there  are  certain  things  in  that  man 's  heart  and 
life  and  experience  that  he  does  not  possess 
after  all,  and  as  he  thinks  of  it  there  may  grow 
into  his  heart  a  yearning  to  possess  one  or 
two  of  these  things.  "They  cannot  do  without 
Hhn,"  said  the  pilot;  "they  need  him,"  and 
that  was  the  very  thing  that  kept  him  riding 
up  the  gulches  and  piercing  down  into  the 
canyons. 

Now  it  is  exceedingly  important  also  after 
we  have  got  that  sense  of  possession  in  our 
hearts  and  we  are  approaching  our  man  that 
we  should  know  that  we  have  the  right  at- 
mosphere about  ourselves.  I  will  say  that 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  important  things  in 
making  the  approach  is  that  there  should  be  in 
us  every  phase  and  form  of  life  that  we  should 
respect.  It  was  the  first  thing  that  gave  the 
pilot  entrance  to  the  shacks  and  the  hearts  of 
the  men  of  the  foothills  that  he  felt  toward 
them  a  real  respect.  He  respected  them. 
These  men  that  were  accustomed  to  receive 
from  the  missionary  or  the  minister  or  good 
man  chiefly  rebuke  and  criticism  and  warning 
were  thrown  off  their  guard,  for  this  new  man 
came  with  a  real  and  profound  respect  for  them. 
And  my  dear  friends,  I  believe  that  many  of 
us  lose  our  grip  before  we  get  on  to  the  grip. 
Many  of  us  lose  our  battle  before  we  fight  it. 
Many  of  us  lose  our  man  before  we  touch  him, 
because  of  a  wrong  approach.     I  suppose  there 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  183 

is  nothing  the  man  of  the  world,  the  man  of 
business  ability,  the  man  who  does  things,  so 
unconsciously  resents  as  the  apparent  feeling 
of  cocksureness  and  betterness  in  the  man  who 
is  approaching  him — the  lack  of  respect  for 
the  man.  You  say  it  is  very  hard  for  us  to 
respect  some  men ;  very  hard  to  respect  the  man 
of  the  world  with  his  sins  and  his  vices.  It  is 
hard,  perhaps.  This  may  help  us  in  such  an 
emergency  as  that.  It  may  help  us  to  remem- 
ber that  for  this  man  with  all  his  vices  upon 
him,  with  all  the  weaknesses  in  his  character, 
for  this  man  Almighty  God  himself  had  re- 
spect. It  may  help  us  to  remember  that  fine 
trait  of  the  character  of  the  Great  Pilot;  that 
is,  his  fine  courtesy  toward  men.  Did  you  ever 
see  a  word,  did  you  ever  know  of  a  deed  that 
he  performed  in  which  there  was  any  hint  of 
the  patronizing  spirit!  Did  he  ever  approach 
men  from  a  superior  level!  No.  The  first 
that  men  knew  about  Christ  was  that  he  was 
side  by  side,  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  them 
there  as  we  heard  the  other  night  in  another 
connection. 

Unless  we  can  respect  a  man,  we  cannot  be 
interested  in  him,  and  the  first  approach  that 
we  make  toward  any  man  to  help  him  is  a  pro- 
found and  real  regard  for  his  intrinsic  worth, 
his  worth  as  he  estimates  himself;  because,  re- 
member he  is  all  he  has  got  and  he  is  worthy 
as  he  is  estimated  by  God,  for  God  thinks  of 
him  as  worthy.     God  help  that  we  have  this 


184  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

respect,  for  then  I  believe  we  are  prepared  to 
move  on. 

I  would  say  that  among  many  other  things 
I  would  select  this,  perhaps,  as  the  next  quali- 
fication :  A  real  sympathy  with  the  man.  I  am 
speaking  commonplaces  now  I  know,  brethren, 
and  yet  they  are  the  great  things ;  the  common 
things  are  the  great  things  in  the  world  about 
us  and  in  the  world  within  us.  Now  sympathy 
is  a  form  of  love.  Respect  is  love  making  its 
approach,  and  sympathy  is  love  working  from 
the  level  of  a  man.  No  man  can  help  his 
brother  until  he  feels  to  a  certain  extent  his 
brother's  feelings.  Will  you  differentiate 
here!  Not  because  it  is  a  hard  intellectual 
process,  but  because  it  is  a  difficult  practical 
process,  we  differentiate  sympathy  from  pity. 
Strong  men  reject  your  pity,  but  no  man  is  so 
strong  but  he  welcomes  your  sympathy.  Sym- 
pathy is  feeling  the  same  feelings  as  the  man 
himself.  For  instance,  the  man  is  a  worker. 
Can  you  in  any  sense  make  his  work  real  to 
you?  I  remember  right  here  that  the  first  ex- 
perience of  being  able  to  touch  men  came  to  me 
as  I  emerged  one  day  from  the  bowels  of  the 
earth ;  from  a  mine.  I  went  down  in  the  basket, 
down  below,  one  stratum  after  another,  until  I 
got  down  to  the  levels  where  the  men  were 
working.  And  after  going  up  into  the  drift 
and  watching  them  taking  out  the  coal,  plodding 
wearily  and  painfully  up  and  down  those  under- 
ground passages,  I  came  out  to  the  air  again, 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION 


185 


and  I  understood  for  the  first  time  why  miners 
get  drunk.  I  never  knew  it  before,  and  if  I  had 
not  gone  down  there  I  never  would  have  discov- 
ered why  a  miner  gets  drunk.  Do  you  know 
why  a  miner  gets  drunk!  I  will  tell  you  why. 
It  is  first  the  air  and  light  getting  into  his  brain 
that  makes  him  wild,  and  he  must  do  something 
that  makes  his  blood  jump.  It  is  the  terrific  re- 
action from  the  underground  life.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve any  man  who  stays  above  ground  can  help 
the  miners.  I  believe  you  have  got  to  go  down 
and  see  them  on  the  job.  And  if  you  can  take 
a  pick  and  wield  it,  do  so.  Then  you  will  know 
something  of  the  way  to  get  close  to  the  man's 
life  and  heart,  his  work,  his  feeling,  and  every- 
thing about  him. 

Now  I  know  I  am  approaching  a  difficult  and 
rather  delicate  subject  here,  and  especially 
in  this  convention  hall.  I  was  delighted  to 
hear  from  this  platform  the  other  day  a 
very  strong  representation  of  the  gospel  of  the 
good  time.  And  I  am  very  glad  to  notice  this, 
too:  The  church  of  Christ,  I  believe,  is  throw- 
ing aside  as  an  outworn  theory  and  practice 
the  bait  theory.  I  think  we  are  giving  up  the 
idea  that  we  must  throw  out  baits  for  men  to 
come  into  the  church.  At  the  same  time  I  want 
to  say  here  that  if  we  are  going  to  do  suc- 
cessful and  valuable  work  in  the  piloting  of 
men  we  must  get  down  beside  them  in  their 
fun.  Of  course  we  are  not  going  to  take  fun 
that  costs  too  much.     We  are  not  for  a  mo- 


186  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

nient  going  to  have  anything  to  do  with  fun 
that  costs  a  loss  of  the  finer  sensibilities  or  any 
sense  of  honor  or  any  feeling  of  manhood. 
Now  with  these  we  have  nothing  to  do.  But  I 
believe,  brethren,  it  is  a  good  thing  for  us  to 
feel  that  the  Christian  man  has  a  right  to  do 
everything  in  this  world  that  is  clean. 

I  wouldn't  apologize  for  going  with  the  men 
out  to  the  baseball  diamond,  and  I  wouldn't 
apologize  for  going  with  the  men  to  their  games. 
I  think  I  would  be  freely  and  heartily  with 
them — take  part  with  them.  You  may  say  it 
is  a  kind  of  a  bait  to  go  out  on  the  diamond 
when  you  don't  play  and  pretend  to  be  inter- 
ested. It  is  utterly  despicable  and  futile. 
They  see  through  it.  But  to  be  downright  in- 
terested in  the  things  the  men  like  to  do  in  their 
fun  is  all  right,  and  we  should  go  with  them 
wherever  the  fun  is  clean.  That  is  really  worth 
while.  It  is  a  type  of  sympathy  that  puts  you 
side  by  side  with  the  men  you  are  trying  to 
show  the  way.  I  wish  we  had  not  surrendered, 
as  we  have  surrendered,  to  the  saloon  so  many 
of  these  things  in  the  way  of  games  and  sports 
that  are  perfectly  clean  and  perfectly  good.  I 
wish  we  could  offer  these  things  to  the  enemy 
and  let  them  go  side  by  side  with  the  men  we 
want  to  reach.  Why  shouldn't  we?  I  am 
looking  for  the  day  when  the  church  will  com- 
mand and  press  into  service  all  the  clean 
things.  I  am  looking  for  the  day  when  not  only 
games  and  literature  and  art  and  music  will  be 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  187 

pressed  into  the  service  of  the  church,  but  I 
will  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  I  hope  nobody 
will  fall  down;  that  I  am  waiting  for  the  day 
when  the  church  will  take  hold  of  the  dramatic 
stage  and  impress  it  into  Christian  service.  I 
am  surprised  there  are  so  many  who  approve 
of  that.  I  thought  perhaps  I  was  going  a  little 
too  far  and  would  have  to  take  it  back.  We 
don't  take  things  back  from  this  platform. 

I  want  to  say  this  in  regard  to  the  stage :  As 
it  is,  we  must  continue  to  be  hopeless.  I  have 
no  hope  in  the  stage  as  it  is  as  a  regenerating 
force  or  even  as  a  legitimate  amusement.  But 
I  want  to  say  that  I  would  like  to  know  any 
good  reason  why  the  Christian  Church  should 
not  subsidize  and  train  men  to  portray  the 
great  ideals  of  truth  which  we  wish  men  to 
struggle  and  fight  for  any  more  than  we  should 
for  the  pulpit.  Is  it  not  the  same  thing!  But 
let  us  not  go  into  that.  It  is  some  time  off. 
But  I  believe  that  some  day  our  children  will 
mention  professors  in  colleges  training  men  to 
put  before  the  multitudes  the  great  and  glori- 
ous truths  of  our  experience  in  action  as  they 
do  now  in  thought  and  teaching.  At  any  rate, 
let  us  claim  this  in  the  church — the  right  to 
take  everything  clean  there  is  and  impress  it 
into  service,  and  for  the  main  purpose  of  get- 
ting into  sympathy  with  men.  If  you  get  into 
sympathy  with  men  in  other  lines,  and  stop 
short  of  the  things  he  loves  to  do  you  will  stop 
at  the  point  where  you  are  most  likely  to  lose 


188  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

kirn.  Sympathy  with  him  is  more  than  that, 
however.  We  want  to  be  able  to  feel  his  feel- 
ings when  he  gets  down  to  his  sins.  When  he 
gets  down  to  his  sins !  We  never  want  to  be  so 
close  to  him  as  when  he  is  sinning.  We  want  to 
understand  and  manage  the  processes  of  his 
sin.  We  want  to  understand  all  those  vagaries 
of  his  heart  that  result  in  sinning.  You  know, 
brethren,  very  much  better  than  I  do,  perhaps, 
that  sin  is  simply  the  resultant  of  these  things : 
Of  environment,  of  opportunity,  and  passion. 
How  many  of  us  would  be  clean,  how  many  of 
us  would  keep  clean  if  always  and  everywhere 
we  could  sin  without  fear,  danger,  or  hurt?  Is 
it  not  true  that  God  keeps  us  by  the  perils  of 
sin.  And  so  remembering  that  this  man  is  in 
sin  because  of  a  sudden  temptation,  or  because 
of  a  certain  environment,  or  because  of  a  cer- 
tain history  behind  him,  remember  these  things 
and  facing  the  great  fact  about  him  that  he  is 
a  sinner,  show  him  that  he  cannot  escape.  Get 
down  beside  him  and  begin  to  work  out  with 
him  the  problem  of  his  sin.  We  must  not  stand 
on  some  eminence  and  say,  "Come  up  out  of 
there. ' '  We  must  not  say, l '  Here,  come  up  into 
this  place.' '  And  we  must  remember  that 
when  He  came  to  save  us  from  sin, 

"He  came  and  felt  the  sinner's  shame,  and  felt 
the  sinner's  pain." 

The  less  the  distance  the  less  humiliation  sin 
produces.     He  moved  to  the  side  of  his  brother, 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  189 

to  the  side  of  his  sin,  and  by  looking  at  it  from 
the  inside  discovered  how  he  might  work  out  a 
way  of  escape.  And  if  you  are  going  to  show 
your  man  the  way  out  of  sin  you  must  know 
what  his  sin  is  and  how  he  came  to  be  a  sinner. 
After  all,  that  is  the  big  business.  The  big 
business  of  this  Brotherhood  is  to  get  into  grips 
with  sin.  It  is  not  the  furnishing  of  intellect- 
ual stimulus;  it  is  not  providing  additional  en- 
joyment. It  is  not  these  things,  but  it  is  to  get 
into  grips  with  sin  and  to  get  him  out  of  his 
sin. 

Now  let  me  say  in  conclusion  just  one  thing 
more.  After  we  have  got  all  these  things  I 
have  spoken  about  and  many  others,  what  is 
the  next  thing?  There  is  only  one  thing  left, 
and  that  is,  Go  after  your  man.  Go  after  your 
man.  Go  and  get  him.  Grip  him.  In  some 
way  get  some  hook  into  him  and  stay  with  it. 
Go  for  it.  What  does  that  mean?  It  means 
that  back  of  your  plan  and  method,  back  of 
your  splendid  machinery  and  organization, 
there  must  come  the  great  pulsing  passion  to 
help  men:  the  great  frenzy,  the  great  madness 
that  seized  upon  the  apostle  Paul,  the  great  mad- 
ness that  thrust  him  out  into  his  world  work 
of  saving  men  from  sin,  of  bringing  them, 
leading  them,  dragging  them,  to  the  Christ. 
When  the  pilot  was  reading  one  night  to  Bill 
and  the  group  about  him,  he  seemed  to  be  seri- 
ous, this  Bill,  whom  they  all  learned  to  love  so 
much,  and  thev  came  across  this  word:  "Breth- 


190  THE    PRESBYTERlAK    BROTHERHOOD 

ren,  I  could  wish  myself  accursed  from  Christ 
for  my  brethrens'  sake."  "What  does  it 
mean?"  said  the  pilot.  They  thought  a  mo- 
ment, one  tried  and  another  tried  and  then  Bill 
said  this:  "Why,  it  means — it  means  he'd  go 
to  hell  for  'em."  We  must  not  be  shocked. 
That  is  the  exact  meaning  of  the  word.  "I 
could  wish  myself  accursed  from  Christ  for  my 
brethren."  Bill  put  it,  "He'd  go  to  hell  for 
'em."  Isn't  that  correct?  The  passion  that 
sends  a  man  to  hell  for  men;  the  passion  that 
sends  a  man  to  any  kind  of  death  for  men — that 
is  the  saving  passion;  that  is  the  final  passion 
in  the  pilot's  heart. 

I  remember  that  when  God  himself  came  to 
attract  men  to  him  and  lead  men  to  him  he 
abandoned  heaven.  He  abandoned  heaven. 
He  threw  off  life.  He  emptied  himself  of  the 
things  that  made  life  for  God  and  came  to  us 
here  a  poverty  stricken  man.  The  apostle 
Paul  caught  the  spirit  and  he  was  willing, 
brethren,  that  even  he  himself  would  go  to 
save  men.  Brethren,  when  you  do  ask  a  man 
to  come  with  you,  what  are  you  going  to  prom- 
ise him?  When  you  go  to  a  sane  and  hearty 
and  solid-minded  man  and  ask  him  to  come 
with  you,  what  are  you  going  to  offer  him? 
Are  you  going  to  offer  him  heaven?  I 
wouldn't,  not  at  first. 

One  day  in  a  western  town  some  men  were 
playing  a  game  in  a  saloon.  There  were  about 
thirteen  of  them  there.    A  man  tried  to  break 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  191 

up  the  game  and  came  in  with  one  story  after 
another  to  drag  these  men  off  from  the  table. 
They  all  failed.  At  last  he  sent  a  man  in  with 
these  words,  "Boys,  there  is  a  fight  out  here," 
and  they  all  dropped  and  ran.  The  most  in- 
teresting thing  in  the  world  to  a  man  with  blood 
in  his  veins  is  a  fight.  Don't  say  to  the  man, 
"Come  in  and  have  a  social  time."  Don't  say 
to  him,  * '  Come  in  and  be  a  little  safer ;  come  in 
and  be  a  little  better."  Say  this  to  him, 
"There  is  a  fight  going  on;  come  on!"  And 
you  will  come  out  very  much  wiser  with  the 
heat  of  battle  upon  you,  and  send  that  into  a 
man's  heart,  saying,  "Come  and  fight."  The 
old  cry  of  the  Son  of  God:  "Come  and  suffer. 
Come  and  take  up  the  cross" — that  reaches  the 
best  into  the  heart  of  humanity.  Come  and  fight ! 
Come  and  suffer !  Come  and  take  up  the  cross ! 
That  will  summon  to  your  side  men,  the  men 
you  want  to  get,  and  the  men  that,  getting,  will 
make  it  worth  while  for  you  to  lead  them. 


XIV 

THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  OUR 
COUNTRYMEN 

BY  J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN,  D.D. 

Mr.  Chairman,  were  I  simply  speaking  as  an 
individual,  I  certainly  would  count  it  a  rare 
privilege  to  stop  in  the  midst  of  any  work  to 
say  a  word  which  might  prove  in  any  sense 
helpful  to  so  great  and  so  representative  a 
gathering  of  men  of  our  church  as  this.  But 
inasmuch  as  I  am  not  this  afternoon  simply  to 
speak  as  an  individual,  but  as  representing  one 
of  the  other  great  movements  of  the  church,  I 
consider  myself  especially  fortunate  in  having 
this  great  honor  placed  upon  me.  I  do  not  at 
all  take  it  as  individual,  but  I  do  take  it,  with 
the  other  members  of  the  Evangelistic  Com- 
mittee, as  an  honor  conferred  upon  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  Committee  on  Evangelistic 
Work. 

Since  coming  into  the  city  I  have  been  unable 
to  get  out  of  my  mind  a  text  which  you  will 
find  in  Esther:  "Who  knoweth  whether  thou 
art  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time 
as  this?"     It  would  seem  to  me  as  if  every 

192 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  193 

Presbyterian  ought  to  stop  this  afternoon  and 
think  of  that  Scripture:  "Who  knoweth 
whether  thou  art  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such 
a  time  as  this?" 

These  are  great  days  in  which  we  are  living, 
days  in  which  men  are  amassing  great  fortunes, 
days  for  the  exhibition  of  great  genius,  and 
when  the  history  of  the  present  day  is  written 
it  will  be  found  that  the  greatest  fortunes  the 
world  has  ever  known  have  been  amassed  in 
this  generation.  The  most  wonderful  mani- 
festations of  genius  have  been  exhibited  in  this 
generation.  But  I  am  equally  sure  when  the 
history  of  the  present  day  is  written,  it  will  be 
said  that  this  has  been  the  day  of  the  mightiest 
movement  in  the  history  not  only  of  our  own 
beloved  church,  but  the  entire  church  of  Christ. 

It  is  unnecessary  that  I  should  say  after 
these  days  and  weeks  and  months  of  service 
that  I  am  an  optimist  concerning  the  future  of 
the  church.  If  I  had  ever  been  pessimistic  I 
should  be  obliged  to  change  my  pessimism  for 
optimism  to-day.  This  is,  indeed,  the  most  sig- 
nificant movement,  I  believe,  in  the  church's  his- 
tory. 

Churches  of  the  Calvinistic  faith  have  always 
influenced  the  thought  of  the  world,  but  we 
have  come  now  to  be  part  of  a  church  which 
really  is  to  be  called  a  church  for  the  times; 
or,  to  change  the  expression,  it  is  an  emergency 
church.  When  the  tide  of  evangelism  was  re- 
ceding, when  additions  to  the  church  were  pain- 

13 


194  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

fully  small,  when  interest  in  the  claims  of 
Christ  seemed  to  be  so  little  felt  in  the  church, 
our  beloved  church  was  keen  to  scent  the  dan- 
ger, a  great  committee  was  appointed,  and  the 
tide  was  changed.  Pastors  were  encouraged, 
the  evangelist  was  given  his  proper  place  and 
the  whole  Christian  world  rejoiced  that  one  of 
our  distinguished  laymen,  not  only  with  his 
money,  but  with  a  consecration  of  himself  made 
it  possible  for  our  beloved  church  to  become  at 
least  one  of  the  mightiest  forces  of  evangelism 
in  the  church's  history.  When  the  chasm  be- 
tween capital  and  labor  seemed  to  be  widening 
and  deepening  so  that  in  a  great  labor  conven- 
tion when  the  name  of  Christ  was  mentioned 
it  was  cheered,  but  when  the  church  was  men- 
tioned it  was  hissed,  the  same  great  church 
through  its  Board  of  Home  Missions  not  only 
recognized  the  danger  but  sought  the  cure,  and 
that  man  who  knew  the  labor  problems  of  to-day 
and  knew  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  man 
who  speaks  to  you  and  always  thrills  us, 
Charles  Stelzle,  was  called  into  commission, 
and  I  believe  is  doing  more  than  any  other  man 
of  his  generation  to  ally  the  laboring  world  with 
the  Christian  world  and  show  them  that  our 
church  is  in  sympathy  with  the  laboring  men 
to-day;  and  the  chasm  is  being  bridged.  For 
this  we  shall  forever  praise  God. 

Then  we  come  to  a  time  of  organization. 
Men  were  forming  themselves  into  clubs,  lodges 
and  trusts,  and  the  same  great  church  was  keen 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  195 

to  scent  the  fact,  and  I  do  not  know  who  first 
had  the  conception,  possibly  history  will  tell  us 
that,  but  I  do  know  that  there  must  have  been 
born  of  man  some  one  man  who  caught  the  main 
thought  of  this  unification  of  the  church,  until 
to-day  we  are  met  in  the  most  significant  con- 
vention in  the  church's  history,  and  there  is 
being  launched  to-day  a  movement  that  shall 
stir  our  church  and  shall  mean  the  winning  of 
a  multitude  of  men  to  Jesus  Christ.  For  let  us 
remember  that  if  the  men  of  our  country  are 
to  be  won  they  are  to  be  won  through  the  men 
already  in  the  church  of  Christ.  This  is  the 
great  day,  and  "who  knoweth,"  my  brethren, 
"whether  thou  art  come  to  the  kingdom  for 
such  a  time  as  this?'' 

When  the  English  soldiers  were  besieged  in 
Lucknow  and  were  waiting  for  reinforcements, 
that  did  not  appear,  and  must  soon  surrender, 
a  young  Scotch  girl  put  her  ear  to  the  ground 
and  listened,  then  sprang  to  her  feet  with  face 
shining  and  hair  streaming,  and  called  out:  "I 
hear  them  coming!  I  hear  them  coming !"  and 
every  soldier  was  nerved  for  the  conflict.  I 
put  my  ear  down  to-day  and  I  hear  them  com- 
ing, coming  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the 
mighty ;  our  great  Presbyterian  force  of  laymen 
coming  into  the  kingdom  in  almost  countless 
numbers,  men  and  boys,  who  to-day  may  be  in- 
different to  the  claims  of  Christ.  We  are  at 
the  dawning  of  one  of  the  best  days  the  church 
of  Jesus  Christ  has  ever  known. 


196  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

What  will  the  movement  mean?  It  will  mean 
that  every  single  church  in  the  land  will  have  a 
working  force,  a  trained  force,  a  consecrated 
force.  What  is  the  hope  of  the  church  to-day? 
The  hope  of  the  church  is  evangelism.  What 
is  evangelism?  Evangelism  is  the  spiritualiz- 
ing of  the  existing  agencies  of  the  church.  It 
is  the  intensifying  of  the  ordinary  service. 
Evangelism  is  the  consecration  of  the  individ- 
ual member  of  the  church.  I  make  no  plea  to- 
day for  professional  evangelism,  although  in 
the  providence  of  God  I  must  so  class  myself, 
although  I  am  no  more  professional  to-day  than 
when  I  was  the  pastor  of  a  church,  but  I  do 
dare  to  say  after  these  years  of  service  and 
study  that  the  hope  of  the  church  is  not  in  pro- 
fessional evangelism.  The  professional  evan- 
gelist is  an  emergency  man.  The  hope  of  the 
church  is  in  pastoral  evangelism.  It  is  the 
ideal  of  the  church.  But  it  can  never  be  pos- 
sible till  we  have  in  each  individual  church  a 
number  of  men  who  will  second  the  minister 
by  praying  God's  blessing  upon  him,  and  then 
seek  to  carry  out  the  principles  enunciated  in 
his  appeal.  I  know  as  many  ministers  as  any 
other  minister  in  the  church,  and  I  marvel  that 
they  can  preach  as  well  as  they  do.  The  aver- 
age minister  must  use  fifteen  minutes  of  his 
sermon  to  create  a  spiritual  atmosphere.  Men 
come  from  the  office,  from  the  newspaper,  from 
secular  business.  It  is  not  the  easiest  thing  in 
the  world  to  preach,  or  it  is  the  most  difficult 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  197 

thing  in  the  world  to  preach,  and  it  depends 
largely  on  the  people  in  the  pews.  Mr.  Wana- 
maker  came  back  from  England  one  day  and 
told  me  he  had  learned  the  secret  of  Spurgeon's 
power.  He  said  he  never  entered  the  pulpit 
that  the  deacons  did  not  gather  round  him  to 
pray,  that  a  thousand  people  did  not  bow  their 
heads  in  prayer.  I  said,  "Why  couldn't  you 
do  that  in  this  city?"  and  for  three  blessed 
years  in  Bethany  I  never  entered  the  pulpit 
that  the  twenty-four  leaders  did  not  pray  with 
me,  sit  on  the  platform  with  me,  and  weep  when 
they  saw  men  come  to  Christ.  Again  and 
again,  Mr.  Wanamaker  patted  me  on  the  shoul- 
der as  I  preached.  For  five  blessed  years  in 
New  York  I  never  entered  service  in  the  morn- 
ing or  stood  in  the  pulpit  in  the  evening  or  at 
prayer  meeting  service  on  Wednesday  night 
that  my  fourteen  elders  did  not  meet  with  me, 
frequently  with  their  arms  about  me,  and  when 
I  arose  to  speak  men  were  ready  without  a  ser- 
mon to  give  heed  to  the  message  of  salvation. 

What  will  the  Brotherhood  do?  I  will  tell 
you  what  it  will  do.  It  will  make  it  possible 
for  ministers  to  become  evangelistic,  to  preach 
his  sermon  and  gather  in  his  results.  This  is 
a  great  day  for  our  beloved  church. 

In  the  second  place,  the  Brotherhood  will 
mean  another  thing.  It  will  bring  together  the 
employer  and  the  employee ;  it  will  break  down 
the  barriers  between  the  rich  and  the  poor. 
We  will  learn  the  lesson  that  we  are  all  breth- 


198  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

ren  together  in  the  church.  I  will  tell  you  the 
difficulty  to-day  in  the  laboring  world.  It  is 
not  the  fact  that  sometimes  the  hours  are  long 
and  the  pay  is  poor.  Laboring  men  to-day  are 
keen  intellectually.  They  know  the  market 
fluctuations ;  but  I  will  tell  you  where  the  diffi- 
culty is.  There  are  sometimes  men — I  think 
the  number  is  growing  fewer — -who  are  high  in 
the  synagogue  who  are  not  considerate  of  the 
poor  six  days  of  the  week.  Tolstoi  was  stand- 
ing on  the  corner  of  a  street  when  a  beggar 
passed  and  said,  "Give  me  a  penny/ '  in  the 
Russian.  Tolstoi  looked  at  him  and  said,  "I 
would,  my  brother,  but  I  have  no  money. ' '  The 
beggar  went  on  his  way  with  a  smile.  As  he 
went  away  one  of  his  companions  in  misery 
said,  "You  are  smiling,  but  you  got  nothing.' ' 
"Oh,"  said  he,  with  face  shining  and  lips 
trembling,  "he  called  me  brother."  And  I  de- 
sire to  say  that  the  day  is  dawning  in  the 
church  more  truly  than  ever  when  the  high,  the 
wise  and  those  of  lower  degree  will  feel  they 
can  march  as  one  army  or  stand  as  one  Broth- 
erhood. When  that  is  true  a  revival  of  the  best 
sort  is  upon  us.     This  is  the  day. 

Third.  This  Brotherhood  is  going  to  solve  the 
financial  problems  of  the  church.  I  doubt  not 
that  that  is  true.  Every  pastor  here  will  feel 
his  burden  is  greatly  lightened.  For  many  of 
us  have  to  serve  the  tables  when  we  ought  to  be 
preaching  the  gospel.  They  will  say  to  the 
Board,  "All  hail  the  Brotherhood."    But  why 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  199 

will  it  solve  the  financial  problems?  I  will  tell 
you.  The  men  of  the  church  will  learn  the  les- 
son of  real  consecration.  And  when  conse- 
crated it  is  easier  to  give.  That  is  consecra- 
tion. I  used  to  have  an  idea  that  consecration 
was  giving  God  something,  but  that  is  not  so. 
For  if  I  am  a  Christian  everything  I  have  is 
God's;  my  time,  my  money,  my  strength  is  his. 
That  is  consecration.  It  is  taking  your  hands 
off  and  letting  God  have  his  own. 

One  of  the  rich  men  of  my  charge  who  was 
going  to  be  out  of  the  country  for  a  while  said : 
' 'I  want  you  to  dispense  my  charity.  All  you 
have  to  do  is  to  listen  to  the  stories  of  the  peo- 
ple and  send  a  slip  of  paper  down,  and  who- 
ever has  the  slip  of  paper  will  get  the  money.' ' 
I  don't  think  I  ever  passed  such  a  happy  month 
in  my  life.  It  is  fine  to  give  away  other  peo- 
ple's money. 

Whenever  the  Presbyterian  Brotherhood 
comes  to  the  place  that  our  time,  our  money, 
our  strength,  our  genius,  are  His  we  have 
reached  the  place  where  he  can  use  us,  "Yea 
for  the  best  ye  have,  and  that  is  victory." 

One  of  our  evangelists  was  preaching  out  in 
the  Indian  country.  He  made  an  impassioned 
appeal  for  contributions  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 
He  said:  "Give  up  the  best  you  have.  We 
are  now  going  to  pass  the  baskets." 
They  passed  the  baskets  through  the  con- 
gregation and  the  baskets  came  back  and 
when    the    minister    was    receiving    the    bas- 


200  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

ket  collection  with  prayer  an  Indian  with 
his  wife  arose  from  the  rear  of  the  build- 
ing and  walked  to  the  front.  They  had  between 
them  a  little  boy.  He  was  an  elder  in  our 
church  in  the  Indian  country.  He  picked  up 
the  little  boy  in  his  arms  and  said  through  an 
interpreter  to  the  evangelist:  "Minister,  you 
asked  us  for  the  very  best  we  had.  We  have 
no  money,  but  the  best  we  have  in  this  woxld  is 
this  boy  of  ours."  And  then  he  said  with  a 
smile:  "You  see  we  could  not  put  him  in  the 
basket  and  so  we  thought  we  would  just  bring 
him  up  here.  If  you  want  to  take  him  to  the 
north,  take  him.  If  he  would  come  to  preach 
the  gospel  we  would  forever  be  grateful.  Take 
him."  And  then  leaving  the  boy  at  the  altar 
he  threw  his  arms  around  the  neck  of  his  wife 
and  sobbed.  But  every  day  should  consecrate 
men  to  our  beloved  church  when  we  would  keep 
back  nothing,  your  boy  and  mine,  your  girl  and 
mine,  your  money  and  mine,  all  because  they 
are  His,  his.  That  means  the  winning  of  them 
to  Christ.     God  hasten  the  day ! 

This  Brotherhood  is  going  to  mean  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  pastor  in  his  rightful  position. 
The  present  day  evangelistic  movement  stands 
for  the  pastoral  office.  If  I  thought  the  move- 
ment meant  in  any  way  the  minimizing  of  the 
influence  of  the  pastor  I  would  leave  it  to-mor- 
row. There  would  be  no  preaching  so  far  as  I 
am  concerned  in  Rochester.  The  present  day 
movement  is  all  toward  the  exalting  of  the  pas- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  201 

toral  office.  That  is  right.  There  has  never 
been  such  a  day  for  preaching  as  this.  Never. 
Never.  If  you  are  a  young  minister  and  have 
been  preaching  for  a  year  I  notify  you  that  I 
would  give  my  right  hand  if  I  could  go  back 
and  begin  the  ministry  over  again. 

The  other  day  in  St.  Louis  a  man  gave  up  his 
ministry.  He  said  the  influence  of  the  modern 
fashionable  church  is  wholly  to  subserve  the 
interests  of  the  rich  and  it  is  impossible  for  a 
preacher  to  preach  his  convictions  because  of 
the  money  power.  That  is  why  he  quit  the  min- 
istry. The  Star  in  this  city  answered  it  in  an 
editorial  thus:  "Preachers  are  not  called  to 
preach  their  convictions  as  much  as  they  are  to 
preach  the  gospel.  Few  parishioners,  rich  or 
poor,  have  ever  instigated  heresy  prosecutions 
against  their  pastor  for  preaching  '  Jesus 
Christ  and  him  crucified.'  Discontent  arises 
where  the  pulpit  is  made  the  vehicle  of  various 
side  issues  in  which  its  occupant  is  momentarily 
interested.  He  who  turns  from  the  plain  and 
simple  task  of  reaching  the  unregenerate  heart 
of  man  by  convicting  it  of  sin  and  drawing  it 
toward  a  better  life  to  inveigh  against  specific 
theories  or  classes  has  exchanged  the  kernel  of 
the  ministry  for  its  husks.  The  province  of  the 
pulpit  is  not  to  wage  war  on  the  rich  or  poor, 
the  Republicans  or  the  Democrats,  autonomy  or 
anarchy,  science  or  art,  high  society  or  the 
slums,  but  to  bring  the  message  of  the  gospel 
to  the  universal  heart.' '    And  the  editor  says, 


202  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

"When  this  is  done  the  rich  men  of  the  cnurch 
and  the  poor  men  of  the  church  will  bid  us  a 
modest,  All  hail!"  Listen!  That  is  a  libel 
against  the  right  to  say  that  the  minister  who 
has  honest  convictions  cannot  preach  them. 
The  only  minister  that  has  a  hold  to-day  is  the 
fearless  minister. 

I  made  it  a  rule  when  I  was  a  pastor  about 
once  a  month  to  tell  the  people  I  was  not  afraid 
of  them,  and  I  always  had  a  good  time.  Part 
of  the  time  I  was  almost  afraid  of  them,  but 
I  never  let  them  know  it.  Whenever  a  minister 
loses  his  courage  his  battle  is  lost.  This  is  a 
great  day  for  preachers.  One  of  my  friends 
described  one  of  the  last  of  the  old  preachers  in 
these  words:  "He  could  dive  deeper,  stay  down 
longer,  and  come  up  drier  than  anybody  he  had 
ever  heard."  Of  course  it  is  not  much  of  a 
day  for  that  sort  of  a  preacher. 

But  the  lesson  of  the  Presbyterian  Brother- 
hood will  stand  for  this.  I  trembled  when  I 
thought  you  wanted  to  break  up  the  Committee 
of  Twenty-one,  for  I  know  all  the  men  but  one. 
They  will  give  character  to  the  movement.  I  sat 
beside  one  of  the  members,  who  said,  as  the 
tears  glistened  in  his  eyes,  "This  will  become 
the  mightiest  evangelistic  force  in  the  history 
of  the  world."  Hear  me,  men!  The  Presby- 
terian Brotherhood  is  going  to  mean  easy  work 
for  the  preacher  when  he  wants  to  preach 
Christ.  Do  you  wonder,  then,  when  I  say  I  am 
delighted  to  have  the  privilege  in  behalf  of  the 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  203 

evangelistic  committee  to  say  this  word  more 
as  I  come  to  the  close  of  my  remarks!  This  is 
our  commission:  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
Evangelistics  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  church; 
it  is  the  outgrowth  of  evangelism.  We  are 
missing  the  method. 

We  were  in  Pittsburgh  a  short  time  ago  and 
the  president  of  the  Diamond  National  Bank 
heard  two  of  the  young  men  of  the  bank  using 
profane  language.  He  rang  a  bell  and  said, 
"Send  those  gentlemen  in."  He  said  to  them: 
' '  Gentlemen,  I  am  a  Christian  man  and  if  there 
is  any  profanity  in  this  bank  I  will  use  it.  In- 
asmuch as  I  don't  swear,  there  will  be  none 
used.  No  man  can  be  a  man,  no  man  can  be  a 
gentleman,  who  swears."  One  said  he  was  a 
Princeton  man  and  the  other  a  Harvard  man. 
One  lived  in  a  hotel  and  the  other  in  the  East 
End  in  a  boarding  house.  With  that  all  their 
spirit  of  braggadocio  was  gone.  One's  lips  be- 
gan to  tremble  and  the  other's  eyes  moistened. 
The  president  said:  "I  didn't  call  you  in  to 
make  you  cry,  but,  boys,  the  best  thing  in  the 
world  for  you  to  do  would  be  to  turn  to  Christ. 
Good  morning."  And  they  were  gone.  The 
next  morning  there  was  a  rap  at  the  bank  presi- 
dent 's  door  and  when  it  was  opened  there  were 
the  two  young  men,  the  one  to  say  to  him,  "Mr. 
Price,  I  took  down  my  mother's  Bible  last 
night,"  and  the  other  to  say,  "I  dropped  on 
my  knees  and  uraved  for  the  first  time  in  a 


204  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

year."  In  Doctor  Young's  church  I  saw  those 
two  bank  clerks  stand  on  their  feet  to  take 
Christ.  The  Presbyterian  men  of  to-day,  on 
fire  with  the  passion  to  save  souls,  could  save  a 
multitude  in  a  year.  That  is  what  the  move- 
ment means. 

Just  a  year  ago  I  went  up  to  have  the  priv- 
ilege of  calling  on  the  Governor  of  Minnesota. 
I  saw  the  Lieutenant  Governor  talking  with 
him.  The  Governor  said:  "I  heard  you  preach 
last  night  and  I  didn't  believe  what  you  said 
about  asking  people  to  come  to  Christ.  I  don't 
believe  in  that.  What  do  you  think  of  a  man 
coming  down  into  this  hotbed  of  politics  and 
asking  a  man  to  come  to  Christ?"  I  said: 
"Governor,  I  never  told  people  to  do  that.  I 
have  just  been  introduced  by  the  most  distin- 
guished Presbyterian  in  St.  Paul  and  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  politicians.  What  if  he 
should  come  into  your  office  and  say,  'I  am  a 
Christian;  not  as  good  as  I  could  wish,  but  I 
love  Christ.  I  love  you  and  I  would  give  my 
right  hand  if  I  could  lead  you  to  my  Saviour?'  " 
I  said,  "What  would  you  say  to  him?"  His 
lip  was  trembling  and  his  eye  moistened.  He 
said,  "I  think  I  should  say,  'Thank  you.'  " 
You  know  there  are  ten  thousand  men  to-day 
with  aching  hearts  waiting  for  some  one  to 
speak,  and  this  Presbyterian  Brotherhood  on 
fire  is  going  out  to  shake  the  church.  God 
grant  it! 

The  worker.    It  is  absolutely  impossible  for 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  205 

you  and  me  to  do  this  work  unless  our  motives 
and  lives  are  right.  I  read  in  the  paper  the 
other  day  that  the  wizard  Burbank  had  at  last 
made  an  apple  sweet  on  one  side  and  sour  on 
the  other.  The  Kecord-Herald  said,  "That  is 
company  manners  and  home  manners  in  the 
same  person.' '  You  see?  Listen,  men!  Your 
public  life  and  mine,  your  private  life  and  mine, 
must  run  together,  and  if  we  are  not  right  God 
won't  use  us. 

The  last  thing, — the  work.  Never  was  there 
such  a  call  as  to-day.  Temptations  were  never 
so  insidious.  Sin  was  never  so  mighty.  I  am 
going  to  make  a  proposition  or  statement  that 
you'll  not  believe,  some  of  you.  The  easiest 
person  in  all  this  world  to  win  to  Christ  is  not 
a  boy;  the  easiest  person  in  all  this  world  to 
win  to  Christ  is  not  a  girl ;  the  easiest  person  in 
all  this  world  to  win  to  Christ  is  not  a  woman. 
The  easiest  person  to  win  to  Christ  is  a  man! 
A  man!  And  that  is  our  work.  That  is  our 
work. 

May  I  give  you  this  illustration  as  I  sit  down! 
You  never  can  win  men  to  Christ  until  you  make 
them  think,  or  stir  their  memory.  Two  or  three 
years  ago  I  was  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  walking 
with  ex-Governor  Northern  He  said,  "Do  you 
know  that  statute?"  I  said,  "I  think  not." 
He  said,  "Look  again."  And  I  looked  and  I 
saw  down  at  the  bottom  of  it,  "Henry  W. 
Grady."  He  said,  "That  was  our  Henry." 
When  he  went  to  New  York  he  thrilled  every- 


206  THE  PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

body  and  was  crowned  as  the  peerless  orator  of 
his  time. 

Henry  Grady  left  one  time  and  they  could 
not  find  him.  He  left  on  Thursday  and  came 
back  on  Tuesday.  Nobody  knew  where  he  was. 
He  had  gone  out  to  the  home  of  his  mother  in  the 
country,  and  when  he  crossed  the  threshold  he 
said  to  his  mother:  "Your  son  has  been  losing 
his  old  ideals  and  he  has  come  back  to  stay, 
not  as  a  big  man,  but  as  a  boy.  Now  treat  him 
as  a  boy,"  And  his  mother,  keen  to- see  the 
necessity,  treated  him  as  a  boy.  She  gave  him 
the  food  he  always  loved  as  a  boy,  and  sat  be- 
side him  while  he  ate  it.  When  evening  came 
she  rocked  him  by  the  fireside  and  sang  the  old 
lullaby.  When  the  time  came  for  this  match- 
less orator  to  go  to  bed  he  would  get  down  on 
his  knees,  his  mother  beside  him,  and  he  would 
say  the  simple  prayer,  "Now  I  lay  me  down  to 
sleep;"  when  she  put  him  into  bed  she  would 
bend  over  him  and  with  that  peculiar  touch  of 
the  mother's  hand — thirty-five  years  ago  in  this 
state  my  mother  went  home,  and  I  can  feel  the 
touch  of  my  mother's  hand  to  this  day — he 
would  drop  to  sleep.  When  he  came  back  to 
Atlanta  he  came  with  his  face  all  shining.  He 
had  his  vision.  All  that  the  men  of  to-day  n$ed 
is  a  stirring  up  of  the  memory.  That  is  your 
work 


XV 

THE  MEN  OF  OUE  CHUECH  AND  THEIR 
MINISTER 

BY  J.  ROSS  STEVENSON,  D.  D. 

I  suppose  that  there  was  no  intention  on  the 
part  of  the  Programme  Committee  to  suggest 
by  my  topic,  two  classes  of  human  beings  who 
are  mutually  exclusive — ixien  and  ministers. 
You  may  have  heard  of  this  epitaph  for  a  cow- 
boy preacher:  "A  parson,  but  a  man."  If  the 
laymen  here  present  were  to  speak  upon  my 
subject,  they  would  surely  insist  that  the  min- 
ister should  be  a  man  four  square,  right  side 
up,  genuine  through  and  through,  and  who 
stands  in  his  proper  place.  They  would  also 
demand  of  him  that  he  be  a  minister  in  reality, 
a  true  representative  of  Him  who  came  not  to 
be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  who 
regards  his  church  not  as  a  nest  to  lie  in,  but 
as  a  vineyard  to  labor  in.  He  might,  in  turn, 
demand  that  his  male  parishioners  also  be  men 
seven  days  in  the  week,  in  the  church,  and  in 
the  office;  at  prayer  meeting  and  at  the  club, 
and  men  who  regard  the  church,  not  as  a  means 
for  material  advantage  and  eternal  safety,  but 

207 


208  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

as  a  base  of  supplies  for  Christian  conquest. 
Such  men  in  a  church,  the  minister  included, 
ought  to  keep  pace  with  the  good  women. 

1.  We  are  proud  of  the  fact  that  we  belong 
to  a  strong  church,  the  great  aim  of  which  has 
always  been  to  produce  strong  men  and  min- 
isters. That  denomination  which  we  have  the 
honor  to  serve,  has  always  been  strong  in  her 
intellectual  conceptions  of  truth;  strong  in  her 
force  of  character ;  strong  in  her  spiritual  life ; 
strong  in  her  devotion  to  the  Master.  She  has 
been  for  the  most  part,  a  working  church,  not 
existing  for  her  own  interests,  but  solely  for 
the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom,  for  as  one 
of  our  Presbyterian  fathers  has  put  it,  "The 
church  is  the  kingdom  of  God  at  work  in  the 
world."  Our  church  has  always  been,  and  is 
now,  decidedly  evangelistic  in  her  aim,  and  her 
missionary  purpose  has  been  clearly  defined. 
May  we  never  forget  that  Assembly  deliverance 
which  should  be  emblazoned  in  letters  of  gold 
across  the  old  blue  banner  of  the  covenant: 
"The  Presbyterian  Church  is  a  missionary  so- 
ciety, the  object  of  which  is  to  aid  in  the  con- 
version of  the  world,  and  every  member  of  this 
church  is  a  member  for  life  of  said  society,  and 
bound  to  do  all  in  his  power  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  object." 

It  would  be  expected  that  a  church  with  such 
a  vision  of  service,  with  such  strong,  com- 
manding conceptions  of  truth  and  of  obligation 
to  her  risen  Lord,  should  produce  men  and  min- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  209 

isters  who  find  in  Christian  life  and  service, 
full  scope  for  their  loftiest  aims  and  noblest 
endeavors.  Our  church  has  always  stood  for 
a  well  equipped  and  efficient  ministry,  and  for 
the  highest  type  of  laymen,  patterned  after  Him 
who  is  the  realized  ideal  of  humanity.  To  im- 
press this  fact  upon  us,  we  need  only  recall 
such  princes  in  our  own  Israel  as  the  Hodges 
and  Henry  B.  Smith  in  the  professor's  chair; 
as  Albert  Barnes,  John  Hall,  and  Howard 
Crosby  in  the  pulpit;  as  Dr.  Nevius  and  Dr. 
Good  out  on  the  mission  field  abroad;  or  Dr. 
Henry  Kendall  and  Dr.  Arthur  Mitchell  work- 
ing here  at  home;  and  such  notable  Christian 
laymen  as  Walter  Lowrie,  George  H.  Stuart, 
William  E.  Dodge,  and  Cyrus  H.  McCormick, 
not  to  mention  the  living.  With  such  an  illus- 
trious heritage  in  a  church  which  bears  an  hon- 
ored name,  it  is  our  privilege  to  serve  as  broth- 
ers. 

2.  Should  not  the  general  theme  of  this  con- 
vention, Brotherhood,  define  the  relation  in 
which  the  men  of  the  church  should  stand  to 
their  minister?  It  is  evident  from  the  action 
taken  this  afternoon  that  this  Presbyterian 
Brotherhood  is  to  be  strictly  under  lay  direc- 
tion, and  preserved  from  ministerial  contact. 
It  is  highly  commendable  when  men  recognize 
their  responsibility,  and  desire  to  carry  their 
own  burdens,  and  no  one  should  question  their 
ability  to  take  care  of  their  own  affairs.  And 
yet  permit  me  to  say  that  it  would  be  most  un- 

14 


210  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

fortunate  if  such  a  sharp  distinction  should  be 
drawn  between  Christian  men  and  ministers 
that  the  latter  should  be  left  out  of  the  sweep 
of  this  great  Brotherhood.  I  felt  not  only  hon- 
ored by  the  invitation  to  come  to  this  conven- 
tion, but  believed  that  it  was  such  a  great  op- 
portunity that  although  it  seemed  impossible 
for  me  to  get  away  from  my  own  pastoral  work, 
I  must  come  at  any  sacrifice.  And  I  somehow 
imagined  that  as  a  minister  in  a  convention  of 
this  kind,  I  would  be  desperately  lonely,  but  I 
wish  to  say  in  all  frankness,  that  I  have  never 
been  in  a  convention  where  I  have  seen  so  many 
ministers  trying  to  pass  themselves  off  for 
laymen,  or  where  I  have  seen  so  many  men  who 
seemed  eager  to  preach.  This  is  encouraging. 
It  seems  almost  impossible  to  keep  them  apart. 
It  was  an  unfortunate  movement  in  the  ancient 
church  which  came  to  divide  Christian  brothers 
into  two  distinct  classes,  clergy  and  laity,  a  dis- 
tinction for  which  there  is  no  scriptural  war- 
rant, and  which  delegated  Christian  service  to 
a  priestly  class,  and  excused  laymen  from  the 
active  work  of  the  church.  As  Presbyterians, 
we  believe  not  only  in  the  parity  of  the  min- 
istry, putting  no  one  above  another  in  rank  or 
privilege,  but  we  believe  in  the  parity  of  all 
Christians;  the  priesthood  of  believers  which 
makes  them  all  one  in  Christ,  members  of  the 
same  family,  and  engaged  in  a  common  work. 
This  is  certainly  a  conception  which  needs  to  be 
emphasized  in  the  individual  church,  namely, 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  211 

that  all  the  men  are  brothers,  and  that  the  min- 
ister is  one  of  them,  even  though  he  be  a  weak 
brother,  and  I  earnestly  hope  that  one  great 
result  of  this  movement  will  be  not  only  to 
bring  the  Presbyterian  laymen  close  together 
as  members  one  of  another,  brothers  of  a  com- 
mon life,  but  to  bring  the  men  and  their  min- 
ister into  warm,  personal,  vital  touch  with  each 
other,  as  brethren  indeed.  The  men  and  their 
minister  have  not  always  seen  eye  to  eye  nor 
worked  side  by  side,  and  it  has  too  often  been 
the  preacher's  fault.  Dr.  John  Hall  used  to 
tell  the  story  of  a  Scotchman  who  was  asked 
how  he  liked  the  new  minister.  "Very  weel," 
he  replied,  "but  there  is  this  I  must  say  about 
him:  For  six  days  in  the  week  he  is  invisible, 
and  then  on  Sunday,  he  is  inexplicable. ' '  The 
fault  of  some  of  our  laymen  is  just  the  reverse : 
for  six  days,  they  are  inexplicable,  and  on  the 
Sabbath,  they  are  invisible.  The  only  thing 
that  can  bring  them  together,  is  a  common 
service  for  their  fellowmen,  in  obedience  to 
their  one  Master's  command. 

Consider  the  service  in  which  the  men  and 
their  minister  must  mutually  engage.  Be  it 
far  from  me  to  put  on  patriarchal  airs,  and 
assume  to  advise  this  Brotherhood,  but  coming 
as  the  representative  of  one  of  the  oldest  Men's 
Societies  in  our  church,  permit  me  to  give  a 
word  of  testimony.  I  have  in  my  hand,  a  copy 
of  the  constitution  of  the  Men's  Society  of  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  which  con- 


212 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 


stitution  was  prepared  by  the  Eev.  James  W. 
Alexander,  D.  D.,  in  the  year  1845.  The  motto 
of  this  society  is,  and  always  has  been:  "Let 
brotherly  love  continue."  You  may  be  inter- 
ested in  the  purpose  of  this  Society  as  it  was 
denned  by  Dr.  Alexander  in  his  own  inimitable 
style : 

"The  object  of  this  society  shall  be  to  pro- 
mote Christian  acquaintance  and  friendship ;  to 
render  mutual  aid;  to  cultivate  the  knowledge 
of  revelation,  by  studying  it  in  common;  to 
promote  personal  grace,  by  conference,  prayer, 
and  praise ;  to  cherish  benevolent  affections,  by 
united  contributions  to  such  objects  as  are  con- 
nected with  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  and  to 
cooperate  with  the  various  boards  of  the 
church  and  its  missionary  and  benevolent  so- 
cieties in  promoting  the  growth  of  our  church 
work ;  and  in  order  to  attain  these  ends,  it  shall 
be  the  particular  aim  of  the  association  to  seek 
out  and  draw  under  its  influence,  such  young 
men  as,  from  recent  arrival  in  the  city,  or  from 
other  causes,  may  be  ready  to  prize  the  ap- 
proach of  Christian  kindness." 

I  mention  this  not  to  exploit  this  particular 
society  or  its  work,  although  it  has  had  a  won- 
derful history,  and  has  on  its  roll,  the  names  of 
some  of  the  most  prominent  laymen  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church;  but  I  wish  to  emphasize  two 
points:  First,  that  the  success  of  this  society 
has  always  depended  upon  the  interest  of  the 
minister  in  it ;  and  secondly,  its  success  has  also 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  213 

depended  on  the  definite  objects  it  had  in  view, 
and  the  losing  sight  of  these,  has  invariably 
resulted  in  a  waning  of  interest.  This  old  so- 
ciety suggests  to  us  certain  lines  of  work  in 
which  the  men  and  their  minister  must  be  most 
closely  identified.  Think  of  the  men  outside 
the  church  who  need  to  be  brought  to  Christ 
and  under  the  influences  of  the  church,  and  to 
do  it  will  require  the  combined  efforts  of 
preacher  and  people.  Do  we  realize  that  of  the 
fourteen  million,  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand men  in  our  country  between  the  ages  of 
sixteen  and  thirty-five,  nine  million,  fifty-nine 
thousand,  are  outside  the  church?  And  what  is 
worse,  a  large  proportion  of  these  are  leading 
immoral  lives,  and  are  under  influences  which 
make  for  their  temporal  and  eternal  nrn. 
Mere  preaching  will  never  convert  these  men; 
the  earnest  effort  of  a  large  company  of  per- 
sonal workers  will  not  be  sufficient  to  bring 
them  all  to  Christ.  Personal  influence  must  be 
exerted  by  all  the  men  of  the  church  if  this 
great  body  of  unsaved  men  is  to  be  brought  to 
a  knowledge  of  Christ. 

Last  summer  I  heard  Dr.  Bosworth  of  Ober- 
lin  speak  of  the  present  crisis  and  the  men  it 
calls  for,  and  he  went  on  to  say  in  substance : 

' '  The  call  to-day  is  for  honest  men  who  do  not 
lead  the  double  life,  one  life  at  home,  and  in 
respectable  society,  and  another  in  places  which 
they  visit  in  secret;  for  business  men  who,  in 
the  stress  of  the  tremendous  temptations  which 


214  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

is  upon  business  men  to-day,  will  stand  for  that 
which  they  believe  to  be  honest.  Honest  law- 
yers are  called  for  who  will  stand  for  the  en- 
forcement and  not  the  evasion  of  law,  and  who 
will  never  find  satisfaction  in  defeating  justice. 
Ministers  are  called  for  who  will  preach  the 
gospel  sincerely,  who  will  preach  what  they  be- 
lieve to  be  primary  truths,  in  spite  of  the  in- 
tolerant opposition  of  radicalism ;  men  who  will 
THINK  sincerely,  who  will  not  be  kept  from 
thinking  upon  certain  subjects  by  the  fear  that 
they  might  reach  conclusions  that  would  be 
costly  to  express:  ministers  who  in  the  pulpit 
will  not  use  phraseology  that  exceeds  personal 
experience.  Journalists  are  called  for  who 
cannot  be  hired  to  advocate  a  cause  they  do  not 
believe  in.  The  call  is  for  men  everywhere, 
each  one  of  whom  will  draw  the  thing  as  he  sees 
it  for  the  good  of  things  as  they  are;  men  who 
have  a  great  hunger  and  thirst  after  character, 
not  after  reputation,  but  after  character,  and 
men  who  are  filled  with  an  invincible  good  will 
to  God,  the  heavenly  Father,  and  an  invincible 
good  will  to  the  men  that  are  on  every  side.  In 
a  word,  men  like  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  full  of 
grace  and  truth.' ' 

Such  are  the  men  who  are  needed  to  win  their 
fellows  to  Christ  and  the  church. 

Dr.  Alexander  also  believed  that  the  men 
and  their  minister  should  work  conjointly  in 
cultivating  the  "  knowledge  of  revelation. ' ' 

When  Mr.  Cooper,  who  has  charge  of  the 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  215 

Bible  Study  Department  of  the  International 
Committee  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  was  a  pastor,  he 
organized  a  Bible  class  for  systematic  study. 
It  began  with  about  thirty  members,  and  in  the 
course  of  four  years,  the  membership  had 
grown  to  five  hundred.  Studying  the  Bible  as 
they  did,  they  were  of  necessity  filled  with  the 
evangelistic  spirit,  and  during  those  four  years, 
no  less  than  one  hundred  strong  men  with  their 
families,  were  not  only  brought  to  Christ,  but 
brought  into  the  membership  of  the  church. 
The  pastor  was  the  leader  of  this  work,  and 
he  gives  it  as  his  own  experience  that  such 
Bible  study  will  only  be  successful  in  bringing 
men  actually  into  the  church,  as  the  pastor  takes 
an  interest  in  the  work,  and  is  identified  with 
it. 

Dr.  Alexander  also  believed  that  the  men  of 
the  church  should  cooperate  with  the  minister 
in  all  the  missionary  enterprises  of  Christ's 
kingdom,  and  with  this  end  in  view,  benevolent 
affection  should  be  cherished.  But  no  man  has 
a  benevolent  affection  for  a  cause  of  which  he 
is  entirely  ignorant.  The  men  cannot  depend 
alone  on  what  they  hear  from  the  pulpit  to 
instruct  them  regarding  the  great  missionary 
work  of  the  church:  There  must  be  among 
them,  as  there  is  to-day  among  the  men  of  our 
colleges,  systematic  study  of  missions.  This 
may  be  done  very  conveniently  in  connection 
with  Bible  study,  just  as  the  two  are  joined 
together  in  many  of  our  Sunday  schools.    But 


216  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

again,  the  interest  of  the  men  in  work  of  this 
kind  will  depend  upon  the  interest  of  the  pas- 
tor. Our  mission  boards  find  it  to  be  almost 
universally  true  that  the  minister  is  the  index 
of  the  missionary  interest  of  any  church. 

In  the  service  contemplated  by  this  Brother- 
hood, the  pastor  must  have  some  place  and 
part,  for  we  may  lay  it  down  as  a  general  prop- 
osition, that  the  interest  of  the  men  of  any 
church  in  a  given  object,  is  in  direct  proportion 
to  the  interest  of  the  minister,  and  therefore 
one  great  purpose  of  this  Brotherhood  should 
be  not  only  to  enlist  the  men  so  that  they  will 
identify  themselves  with  the  minister's  work, 
but  to  enlist  the  ministers  for  the  men,  so  that 
they  too  may  catch  the  vision,  and  fall  in  line 
with  God's  plan  for  their  generation. 

"We  are  not  divided;  all  one  body  we: 
One  in  hope  and  doctrine:  one  in  charity." 

We  are  members  together  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  are  therefore  indispensable  to  each 
other,  for  the  foot  cannot  say  of  the  hand,  I 
have  no  need  of  thee;  and  if  one  member  suf- 
fer, the  whole  body  must  suffer.  Christ  is  the 
head  of  the  church:  he  has  the  vision,  and 
gives  the  command.  And  when  he  tells  us  to 
go  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  it  is  for 
us  to  obey  individually,  and  to  obey  unitedly. 

Let  us  therefore  stand  fast  in  one  spirit, 
with  one  soul,  striving  for  the  faith  of  the 
gospel. 


XVI 

THE  MEN  OF  OUR  CHURCH  AND  THE 
LABOR  INTERESTS 

BY  THE  REV.  CHAS.  STELZLE. 

There  are  fully  six  times  as  many  men  in  the 
labor  unions  of  this  country  not  touched  by  the 
churches  as  there  are  men  in  all  the  Presby- 
terian churches  combined,  and  when  we  add  the 
hosts  of  non-unionists  not  in  the  churches  there 
opens  out  before  this  Brotherhood  the  greatest 
field  for  service  in  America.  Some  day  the 
church  will  awake  to  the  fact  that  the  labor 
movement  is  the  most  significant  movement  of 
modern  times,  and  when  I  speak  of  the  labor 
movement  I  do  not  refer  exclusively  to  the  la- 
bor union.  There  are  forces  organized  and 
unorganized  which  are  comprised  in  this  term. 
It  includes  the  twenty-five  million  socialists  of 
the  world,  nine  million  of  whom  have  cast  their 
ballots  for  socialist  candidates;  it  includes 
eight  million  trades-unionists  of  every  land;  it 
includes  workingmen  that  to-day  control  the 
British  Parliament ;  it  includes  the  uprising  in 
Russia,  twenty  thousand  of  whom  have  suf- 
fered death  because  of  what  they  believe;  it 
217 


218  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

includes  the  uprising  in  France,  Italy,  and  Bel- 
gium, to  say  nothing  about  the  social  unrest 
that  exists  in  our  own  country.  It  does  not 
require  a  very  wise  mind,  therefore,  to  say  that 
this  is  the  era  of  the  common  man,  and  when 
the  hour  strikes  that  shall  proclaim  the  vic- 
tory of  the  common  people,  this  is  the  question 
that  will  confront  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ: 
Will  they  be  inspired  by  a  high  religious  ideal 
given  them  by  the  church  of  Jesus,  or 
will  they  go  on  to  even  nobler  and  higher  things 
though  they  have  won  all  in  spite  of  the  church  1 
For  win  they  will.  No  human  power  can  pre- 
vent it,  and  no  divine  power  will. 

This,  then,  is  the  labor  movement  which  con- 
fronts this  church,  the  church  in  this  genera- 
tion. There  is  so  much  religion  in  the  labor 
movement  and  so  much  of  the  social  spirit  in 
the  church  that  some  day  it  is  going  to  be  a 
question  whether  the  church  will  capture  the 
labor  movement  or  whether  the  labor  move- 
ment will  capture  the  church.  We  hear  a  great 
deal  to-day  about  the  church  saving  the  masses, 
and  we  need  to  talk  about  it  and  think  about  it 
and  work  about  it!  but  some  day  the  masses 
are  going  to  help  save  the  church. 

There  are  four  striking  facts  in  connection 
with  this  subject  to  which  I  will  call  your  at- 
tention very  briefly  this  afternoon. 

In  the  first  place,  the  great  mass  of  working- 
men  honor  Jesus  Christ  as  their  friend  and 
their  leader  and  master.     They  believe  in  his 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  219 

divinity.  I  sometimes  think  the  individual 
working-man  is  about  as  orthodox  as  the  aver- 
age preacher.  It  has  been  my  privilege  to 
address  great  masses  of  workingmen  number- 
ing from  one  thousand  to  ten  thousand  and  at 
almost  every  mention  of  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  there  has  come  applause  from  almost 
every  part  of  the  hall. 

In  the  second  place,  the  average  workingman 
is  religious  even  though  his  religion  is  not  ex- 
pressed in  the  accepted  orthodox  manner.  The 
people  who  used  to  hear  Ingersoll  were  not 
composed  of  the  artisan  class.  Some  time  since 
we  conducted  as  many  as  three  hundred  shop 
meetings  in  Chicago  in  ten  days,  and  the 
preachers  said  they  had  never  been  listened  to 
with  greater  interest  than  during  that  shop 
campaign. 

About  a  year  and  a  half  ago  I  began  to  write 
a  series  of  syndicate  articles  for  three  hun- 
dred labor  papers  in  the  country  in  which  I 
spoke  to  practically  every  trades-unionist  in 
this  country,  getting  an  audience  of  ten  million 
people.  When  I  first  began  to  write  the  arti- 
cles I  left  off  the  title,  '  Reverend '  because  I 
thought  they  might  object  to  it,  and  to  my  sur- 
prise every  labor  editor  tacked  it  on  and  nearly 
every  one  gave  me  the  degree  of  D.D. 

In  the  third  place,  the  labor  question  is  a  re- 
ligious and  moral  question.  History  has 
prophesied  it;  everything  indicates  it.  In  the 
end  there  will  be  not  one  answer  to  the  social 


220  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

question,  but  many;  but  they  will  all  agree  in 
this:  All  of  them  will  be  religious.  The 
workingmen  are  more  responsible,  more  able 
in  this  day  than  they  have  been  at  any  other 
time  during  the  history  of  the  labor  movement. 
I  cannot  stop  to  tell  you  about  the  results  of 
the  appeals  of  our  pastors  on  labor  Sunday 
when  practically  every  minister  preached  to 
workingmen,  and  when  more  workingmen  at- 
tended church  than  had  been  attending  for 
many  a  year. 

A  dozen  years  ago  when  I  was  a  machinist  in 
New  York  City  I  read  an  Associated  Press  dis- 
patch which  said  that  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor  had  declared  that  no  minister  of  the 
gospel  should  be  permitted  to  attend  any  meet- 
ing. I  do  not  know  whether  it  was  true  or  not, 
but  I  decided  when  I  read  the  dispatch  if  God 
ever  gave  me  the  opportunity  I  would  break 
down  that  prejudice  that  existed  among  the 
workingmen  of  this  country.  Last  year  I  re- 
ceived a  request  from  the  secretary  of  the  same 
organization  to  go  to  Pittsburgh  to  the  twenty- 
fifth  annual  meeting  to  address  for  a  half  hour 
the  four  hundred  delegates  who  represented  a 
half  a  million  men;  and  when  I  got  through 
they  passed  a  resolution  endorsing  our  depart- 
ment and  instructing  their  organization  to 
cooperate  with  the  ministers.  The  other  day 
at  Minneapolis  from  where  I  have  just  come  I 
was  received  by  the  same  convention  as  a  fra- 
ternal  delegate,   the   first   time   in   twenty-six 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  221 

years  that  a  preacher  was  asked  as  a  delegate ; 
and  for  the  first  time  in  its  history  that  con- 
vention was  opened  with  prayer,  by  a  Presby- 
terian minister,  who  is  a  fraternal  delegate 
from  the  Central  Labor  Union  of  Minneapolis. 

Because  of  these  four  facts  the  church  is 
already  supreme  in  the  matter  of  gaining  the 
ascendency  over  the  labor  question. 

Unfortunately,  the  church  has  had  too  nar- 
row a  vision.  Evangelistic  work  is  important 
and  fundamental.  I  believe  in  it  with  my 
whole  heart  and  give  much  of  my  time  to  it; 
but  I  want  to  say  very  emphatically  that  no 
amount  of  evangelistic  work  engaged  in  for  the 
purpose  of  reaching  the  masses  can  ever  take 
the  place  of  some  other  things  the  church  must 
do  if  she  would  capture  the  labor  movement 
for  Christ.  What  are  the  things  that  the 
workingman  must  find  in  the  church  if  he  is  to 
be  attracted  to  it? 

In  the  first  place,  he  must  find  in  the  church 
absolute  sincerity.  Betrayed  so  often  by  those 
who  pose  as  his  friends  and  made  to  believe 
that  all  business  is  a  trick  of  which  he  is  the 
victim,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  individual 
workingman  becomes  mightily  suspicious  of  any 
movement  that  is  supposed  to  be  in  his  interest. 
Sometimes  the  very  men  who  have  deceived 
him  in  political  life  or  in  economic  life  have 
been  most  prominent  in  the  church,  and  this 
fact  has  been  so  widely  exploited  in  the  labor 
press  and  the  unions  that  they  have  come  to  be- 


222  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

lieve  that  all  the  men  in  the  church  are  of  the 
same  type  of  deceivers.  I  think  again  there 
are  some  Christian  men,  employers,  capitalists, 
whose  lives  and  whose  work  stand  out  so  con- 
spicuously that  it  forever  gives  the  lie  to  this 
miserable  slander.  If  it  were  not  so  it  would 
make  the  work  very  much  harder. 

Many  of  us  have  come  to  believe  the  church 
is  the  end  instead  of  the  people.  We  plan  our 
churches,  as  a  rule,  not  where  the  largest  num- 
ber of  people  live  and  where  the  need  of  the 
people  is,  necessarily,  but  where  the  church  will 
receive  the  largest  measure  of  support. 
Within  recent  years  forty  Presbyterian 
churches  have  moved  out  of  the  district  below 
Twentieth  Street  in  New  York  City  and  three 
hundred  thousand  people  have  moved  in,  and 
they  were  nearly  all  working  people.  When- 
ever the  church  becomes  impressed  with  its 
duty  to  these  down  town  districts  it  will  organ- 
ize a  mission  on  a  side  street,  in  a  dark,  dingy, 
frequently  dirty,  building,  and  put  in  charge  a 
man  it  will  pay  six  hundred  dollars  a  year,  and 
give  him  problems  to  solve  that  would  stagger 
a  four  thousand  dollar  man.  We  are  simply 
playing  at  solving  these  problems  and  the  aver- 
age workingman  knows  it. 

Sometimes  he  suspects  our  motives.  Why 
is  it  the  church  is  interested  in  the  working- 
man?  Is  it  because  the  church  has  lost  its  grip 
upon  the  masses  that  it  is  engaged  in  the  work? 
Though  so  far  as  our  church  is  concerned  it  has 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  223 

been  getting  a  grip  upon  the  workingman.  If 
that  is  our  motive  we  are  deceiving  no  one  but 
ourselves.  It  will  be  only  as  the  church  is 
willing  to  lose  her  life  that  she  will  find  it  again 
among  the  masses  of  the  people. 

In  the  second  place,  the  workingman  must 
find  in  the  church  a  greater  democracy.  Does 
anybody  suppose  that  the  spirit  of  patronage 
and  paternalism  that  are  so  frequently  mani- 
fested in  the  average  city  mission  work  is  going 
to  appeal  to  the  American  artisan?  If  any  one 
imagines  that  let  me  say  he  does  not  under- 
stand the  workingman  in  this  country.  There 
is  nothing  he  will  resent  more  quickly  than  the 
spirit  of  paternalism. 

When  I  was  in  the  machine  shop  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Brooklyn  Y.  M.  C.  A.  came  to  me 
one  day  and  told  me  I  had  been  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Management  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  I  said,  "I  cannot  raise  any  money  for 
you;  I  can't  even  raise  the  money  to  join."  He 
said,  "We  don't  want  your  money;  we  want 
you."  I  consented  to  serve.  I  met  from  week 
to  week  with  men,  many  of  them  millionaires  of 
New  York.  I  would  come  back  to  the  shop  and 
say  I  had  met  so  and  so,  and  they  knew  all 
the  names.  The  boys  in  the  shop  thought  I 
was  IT,  and  they  thought  they  were  IT,  because 
in  taking  a  man,  not  even  a  foreman  or  super- 
intendent, but  a  dirty,  greasy,  oily  machinist 
and  putting  him  on  the  board  with  millionaires 
they  were  being  honored.     Now  I  couldn't  do 


224  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

very  much  damage  on  that  board.  There  were 
twenty-three  men  on  that  board  to  vote  against 
me  if  I  felt  so  inclined.  But  I  want  to  say  to 
you  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Brooklyn  never 
made  a  bigger  hit  with  the  workingmen  of 
Brooklyn,  and  when  the  Presbytery  of  Brook- 
lyn voted  a  short  time  afterwards  to  send  me 
to  the  Synod  at  Kochester  and  paid  all  my 
traveling  expenses  and  at  the  hotel — the  first 
time  I  had  ever  lived  in  a  hotel  in  my  life;  I 
was  having  the  time  of  my  life  too — these  men 
thought  they  were  being  honored.  That  is 
what  counts — the  spirit  of  democracy.  They 
are  familiar  with  it  in  their  labor  halls,  in  their 
lodges,  their  clubs;  yes,  they  are  familiar  with 
it  in  every  saloon  where  a  five-cent  piece  puts 
a  man  on  an  equality  with  every  other  man  in 
the  place.  But  they  do  not  always  find  it  in 
the  church. 

In  the  third  place,  the  workingman  will  be 
attracted  to  the  church  when  the  church 
preaches  a  clearer  social  message.  When  our 
young  men  study  for  the  ministry  they  study 
about  the  social  life  of  the  Israelites,  the  para- 
sites, and  the  Hittites  and  all  the  other  'ites. 
When  they  get  into  the  pulpit  they  preach  about 
this  social  life.  When  a  man  goes  into  the 
social  life  of  Chicago  and  preaches  about  it 
some  brother  will  say  he  might  better  preach 
the  simple  gospel.  I  would  not  have  a  preacher 
preach  on  social  theories.  I  have  never 
preached  a  so-called  labor  sermon  in  all  my 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  225 

ministry.  But  I  want  to  say  to  you  these  work- 
ingnien  are  not  confronted  with  theories;  they 
are  conditions.  Do  you  remember  when  Moses 
came  fresh  from  that  vision  God  gave  him  in 
the  mountain  with  a  special  message  to  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  who  were  in  bondage,  we  are  told 
they  would  not  listen  to  Moses  because  of  the 
rigor  of  their  toil.  No,  even  though  an  angel 
sent  from  God  might  come  to  stir  the  people, 
aye,  and  from  the  throne  of  God,  they  would 
not  listen  to  him. 

I  feel  most  strongly,  and  may  I  tell  you  why? 
I  went  to  work  when  I  was  eight  years  old  in 
the  basement  of  a  New  York  tenement  house, 
in  a  " sweat  shop"  you  would  call  it  to-day. 
My  mother  and  four  sisters  and  I  lived  in  two 
rear  rooms  in  a  rear  tenement  in  that  part  of 
the  tenement  house  district  on  the  East  Side  of 
New  York.  And  there  she  sewed  wrappers  for 
which  she  received  two  dollars  a  dozen  to  sup- 
port five  children,  and  often  in  the  night  I 
would  awake,  at  nearly  midnight  and  some- 
times after  midnight,  and  find  her  still  plying 
the  needle  to  finish  that  dozen  wrappers  a  day 
for  the  sweat  shop  on  Ridge  Street  to  get 
money,  because,  perchance,  she  had  gone  sup- 
perless  to  bed  to  give  her  children  something 
to  eat.  And  often  it  wasn't  more  than  a  stale 
roll  with  a  pinch  of  salt  on  it,  and  sometimes 
that  is  all  we  had  to  eat  in  a  week.  We  had 
not  tasted  butter  for  years. 

With  that  experience  behind  me,  do  you  won- 

15 


226  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

der  that  I  am  sympathetic  with  the  workingman, 
to  help  them  to  gain  better  conditions  for  them- 
selves f  If  I  felt  that  the  Presbyterian  Church 
had  no  message  with  regard  to  the  appeals  of 
child  labor  as  I  know  it,  if  it  cared  nothing 
about  the  five  million  women  that  toil  in  the 
factories  and  the  sweat  shops,  if  it  cared  noth- 
ing about  the  unsanitary  conditions  of  the  tene- 
ment house  as  I  know  it,  and  in  the  factory,  I 
would  go  out  of  the  church  and  I  would  line  up 
with  some  other  organization  that  is  working 
to  wipe  out  these  curses  of  our  modern  civili- 
zation, and  it  wouldn't  take  very  much  to  make 
me  do  it. 

If  I  were  not  a  Christian  man  I  need  simply 
think  of  that  mother,  not  yet  old  in  years,  but 
broken  in  health  and  crippled  in  body  because 
of  the  awful  experiences  she  passed  through 
during  those  years  when  she  toiled  to  give  me 
bread.  I  need  simply  think  of  those  four  sis- 
ters and  all  they  passed  through,  yes,  all  they 
might  have  passed  through,  to  make  me  a  rank 
agitator  on  the  other  side. 

But  the  church  does  care.  The  resolutions 
of  our  general  assemblies  prove  it;  your  ap- 
plause indicates  it,  and  I  can  go  to  the  work- 
ingmen  and  say  to  them  that  the  church  does 
care;  not  as  much  as  she  should,  I  grant  you, 
but  she  is  increasingly  interested. 

Now  one  thing  else.  The  workingman  will 
be  attracted  to  the  church  when  there  is  in  the 
church  a  more  prophetic  spirit.     Too  long  have 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  227 

we  been  boasting  of  our  glorious  traditions. 
The  average  workingman  does  not  care  a  rap 
about  our  glorious  traditions.  What  he  wants 
to  know  is  what  the  church  is  doing  for  him. 
Some  time  ago  a  committee  of  workingmen 
came  to  the  Archbishop  of  London  and  asked 
him  to  intercede  for  them  in  the  matter  of  ob- 
taining employment.  After  delivering  their 
address  to  the  Archbishop  he  turned  to  them 
and  replied,  "I  have  been  so  busy  with  the 
work  of  organization  in  the  church  that  I  have 
had  no  time  to  study  your  problems."  And 
Kier  Hardy  said,  "If  that  is  true,  then  you  have 
no  message  for  us,"  and  they  left  him. 

The  prophet  of  the  people  must  understand 
something  of  the  real  needs  of  the  people. 
That  vision  does  not  come  in  the  seclusion  of 
the  study.  More  frequently  it  comes  in  the 
labor  hall,  in  the  workshop,  in  the  tenement. 
Some  day  God  will  raise  up  a  prophet  who  shall 
win  to  himself  those  who  at  one  time  heard 
Jesus  Christ  gladly.  That  day  shall  reveal 
whether  the  church  will  capture  the  labor  move- 
ment or  whether  the  labor  movement  will  cap- 
ture the  church.  Much  will  depend  whether 
that  prophet  comes  out  of  the  organized  church, 
or  whether,  as  happened  two  thousand  years 
ago,  he  shall  come  from  the  ranks  of  the  com- 
mon people,  a  despised  Nazarene. 


XVII 

THE  MEN  OF  OUR  CHURCH  AND  THE 
SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

BY  CHARLES  GALLAUDET  TRUMBULL 

One  of  the  truest,  manliest,  most  spiritually 
minded,  successful  business  men  whom  it  has 
ever  been  my  privilege  to  know,  one  time  said 
to  me  with  a  quiet  smile,  "Have  you  ever  no- 
ticed that  when,  in  prayer  meeting  a  man  has 
nothing  to  say,  he  gets  up  and  talks  about  the 
need  of  the  Holy  Spirit  !" 

This  was  said  not  irreverently,  but  as  giving 
expression  to  the  truth  that  the  subject  of 
spiritual  life  and  spiritual  power  is  too  often  a 
matter  of  vagueness  and  uncertainty.  Yet  the 
getting  of  spiritual  power  ought  not  to  be  a 
matter  of  mystery,  or  vagueness,  or  uncer- 
tainty, or  much  seeking,  or  even  of  pleading 
with  God  that  he  should  send  it.  No  man  ever 
lived  who  was  half  so  desirous  of  having  spirit- 
ual power  as  God  is  that  he  should  have  it.  It 
is  not  a  question  of  God's  willingness  to  grant 
it,  or  of  the  Spirit's  willingness  to  come,  but 
of  our  will  to  open  the  way.  The  universe  is 
surcharged  with  spiritual  life, — teeming  with 
it.    How  can  we  get  it? 

228 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  229 

There  are  just  two  ways.  I  am  not  going  to 
talk  to-day  about  confession  of  Jesus  Christ  as 
our  Saviour,  or  about  Bible-study,  or  about 
prayer.  I  am  going  to  take  those  three  funda- 
mentals for  granted.  Of  course  we  must  have 
those  three;  we  cannot  even  move  in  the  direc- 
tion of  spiritual  power  without  them.  But 
every  man  here  knows  that  those  three  things 
by  themselves  are  not  enough.  Yes,  I  mean 
just  that.  A  man  may  have  given  himself  in 
open  confession  to  Christ  as  his  Saviour;  he 
may  study  his  Bible  daily ;  he  may  pray  daily ; 
and  he  may  still  be  lacking,  consciously  lacking, 
woefully  lacking,  in  spiritual  life.  You  know 
that  is  so.  Every  man  of  you  could  rise  in  his 
place  and  bear  me  witness,  out  of  his  own  ex- 
perience, that  it  may  be  so.  I  know  that  it  is 
so.  I  can  bear  witness,  out  of  my  own  experi- 
ence, that  it  may  be  so.  The  confession  of 
Christ  as  Saviour,  alone,  is  not  enough  to  main- 
tain a  man's  spiritual  life.  Bible-study  added 
to  this  is  not  enough.  And  prayer  added  to 
these  is  not  enough.  Prayer  alone  never  gave 
a  man  a  life  of  spiritual  power.  We  might 
stay  here  and  pray  for  seven  hours,  or  seven 
days,  for  spiritual  power,  and  go  away  from 
here  to  lives  barren  of  this  blessing. 

Do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  have  not  said 
that  a  man  could  ever  have  spiritual  power 
without  prayer,  without  Bible-study,  without 
the  personal  acceptance  of  the  Saviour.  Those 
three  acts  are  supremely  vital,  absolutely  es- 


230  THE  PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

sential,  to  spiritual  life.  They  are  the  founda- 
tion, the  only  foundation,  of  spiritual  life. 
But  they  are  only  the  foundation.  You  cannot 
have  a  house  without  a  foundation,  but  you 
may  have  a  foundation  without  a  house.  And  I 
want  you  to  consider  what  it  is  necessary  to  add 
to  this  three-fold  foundation — Christ,  Bible- 
study,  and  prayer — in  order  to  build  the  house, 
to  complete  the  structure,  to  carry  out  the  spe- 
cifications, which  Christ  has  planned  for  the 
life  of  every  man. 

Just  two  things  will  do  it:  1.  Individual 
soul-winning.  2.  Living  up  to  Christ's  high- 
est standards  in  every  detail  of  our  business  or 
commercial  life. 

Is  that  such  an  old  story  that  it's  common- 
place? It  is  old;  the  principle  goes  back  to 
the  beginning  of  things;  but  its  application  is 
not  yet  commonplace.  Men  of  the  Brotherhood, 
we  are  not  doing  this.  If  the  Presbyterian 
men  of  this  convention  should  leave  Indian- 
apolis and  go  home  to  do  these  two  things,  in 
Christ's  strength,  daily,  from  now  until  death, 
North  America  would  know  such  an  awakening 
and  revival  as  the  world  has  not  seen  since  the 
Day  of  Pentecost. 

Individual  soul-winning  is  the  only  way  men 
ever  have  been  brought  to  Christ,  and  it  is  the 
only  way  men  ever  will  be.  It  was  Christ's 
preferred  way  of  working;  and  preaching  can- 
not compare  with  it  as  a  method  of  winning 
souls.     Christ's  own  preaching  brought  no  such 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  231 

results  as  did  his  individual  work.  We  need 
not  hope  to  improve  upon  hirn  and  his  methods. 
Preaching  is  necessary  and  important  as  pre- 
paratory work,  but  the  harvest  must  be  hand- 
picked.  The  strongest  pastors  know  this,  and 
work  accordingly. 

And  I  am  sure  every  pastor  here  will  agree 
with  me  when  I  say  that  the  laymen  who  make 
up  the  body  of  this  Brotherhood  have  even  a 
greater  opportunity  for  individual  soul-winning 
than  have  the  ministers.  For  the  layman  is 
closer  than  any  pastor  can  be  to  the  mass  of 
men  who  need  Christ  and  who  know  him  not, 
down  on  the  street,  in  the  office,  on  the  road; 
our  opportunity  to  tell  such  men  of  our  Saviour 
is  a  hundred-fold  that  of  the  pastor's.  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  once  said,  "The  longer  I  live, 
the  more  confidence  I  have  in  those  sermons 
preached  where  one  man  is  the  minister  and 
one  man  is  the  congregation;  where  there's  no 
question  as  to  who  is  meant  when  the  preacher 
says, '  Thou  art  the  man. '  ' '  This  form  of  work 
does  not  shut  the  pastors  out,  but  it  lets  us  in. 
And  if  we  don't  come  in,  we  are  a  drag  in  the 
kingdom.  Charles  Alexander  is  convinced 
that  "the  man  who  is  not  doing  personal  work 
has  sin  in  his  heart."     We  cannot  dodge  this. 

And  the  second  point:  Living  up  to  Christ's 
highest  standards  in  every  detail  of  our  busi- 
ness life.  Are  we  doing  it?  In  Turkey  and 
Syria  the  Mohammedans  reverence  Jesus 
Christ ;  so  much  so  that  they  believe  God  could 


232  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

not  have  let  him  be  crucified,  and  their  tradi- 
tion is  that  Judas  Iscariot  was  supernaturally 
substituted  for  Jesus  and  died  on  the  Cross. 
They  look  upon  Chris.t  as  one  of  the  best  and 
greatest  teachers  who  ever  lived.  But  they  do 
not  identify  Christ  at  all  with  Christians.  To 
them  Christian  means  everything  that  is  con- 
temptible and  unworthy.  When  the  World's 
Sunday-school  p  Convention  met  in  Jerusalem 
two  years  ago,  the  Turkish  authorities  sent  ex- 
tra police  and  military  forces  to  the  spot  in 
order  to  preserve  the  peace  and  prevent  blood- 
shed ;  for  to  them  a  Christian  gathering  usually 
meant  a  riot,  a  fight  of  the  Christians  with  each 
other. 

How  about  it  in  this  country?  Does  the 
world  always  identify  the  Christian  business 
man  with  the  life  and  teachings  of  Christ?  Is 
the  portrait  of  Christ  always  recognizable  in  all 
our  business  dealings? 

A  Christian  man  said  to  an  atheist,  "How 
do  you  quiet  your  conscience  while  you  are  in 
such  a  desperate  state  of  mind  in  your  attitude 
toward  God?" 

"How  do  you  quiet  your  conscience,"  the 
atheist  retorted,  "while,  believing  as  you 
claim  to  believe  about  God,  you  live  so  much 
like  the  world?" 

Just  how  far  in  the  line  of  personal  sacrifice 
are  we  willing  to  go  in  bringing  our  business 
lives  up  to  Christ's  highest  standards?  Are 
we  willing  to  lose  money  for  him?    Are  we 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  233 

willing  to  take  ridicule,  and  be  called  pious,  in 
business,  for  kirn?  Are  we  willing  to  lose  our 
position,  and  hunt  another  job,  for  him? 
Every  time  we  are,  we  are  deepening  our  spirit- 
ual life  and  gaining  in  spiritual  power. 

If  we  can't  hold  our  present  business  posi- 
tions and  keep  true  to  Christ's  highest  stand- 
ard in  every  detail  of  the  work,  then  the  great- 
est blessing  we  can  lay  hold  on  will  be  to  give 
up  that  position,  and  get  into  a  business  where 
Christ  can  come  too.  That  will  mean  spiritual 
power.  If  we  can't  make  quite  as  much  money, 
or  if  we  can't  make  any  money  at  all,  in  this 
particular  "deal"  that  we  have  on,  by  holding 
to  the  highest  standard  Christ  has  taught  us, 
let's  get  the  blessing  he  has  for  us  by  losing 
money  just  now.    It  will  pay. 

A  young  business  man,  a  stranger  to  me, 
came  into  my  office  last  spring  and  said  that  he 
wanted  to  talk  over  with  me  a  business  ques- 
tion that  was  facing  him.  He  was  employed 
by  a  house  that  had  agreed  with  other  concerns 
in  the  same  line  of  business  to  maintain  a  cer- 
tain rate  for  the  selling  of  certain  goods.  His 
house  was  accustomed,  however,  to  make  allow- 
ances to  favored  customers  for  fictitious  bills, 
thus  breaking  the  rate  agreed  upon.  It  was 
the  old  story  of  "rebates."  The  head  of  his 
department  was  away  temporarily,  and  this 
young  man,  filling  his  place,  must  himself  con- 
duct the  transactions.  And  that  he  did  not 
want  to  do. 


234  THE  PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

He  went  to  one  of  the  heads  of  the  business 
and  told  him  frankly  that  he  could  not  on  prin- 
ciple do  this.  The  indulgent  answer  was  to 
"think  it  over,"  or  to  talk  it  over  with  any  good 
business  man  whose  judgment  the  young  man 
had  confidence  in,  and  he  was  assured  that 
he  would  soon  find  that  it  was  a  little  matter,  so 
commonly  practised  that  it  simply  had  to  be 
tolerated  if  business  was  to  go  on  at  all.  And 
the  young  man  did  me  the  honor  of  talking  it 
over  with  me. 

I  told  him  that  he  had  come  to  the  wrong 
place  for  confirmation  of  his  employer's  opin- 
ion. That  was  all  he  wanted;  his  own  mind 
was  made  up,  and  he  simply  wanted  a  word  of 
encouragement  to  hold  true  to  what  he  was  con- 
vinced was  right.  He  went  back  and  resigned 
his  position.  He  had  been  only  recently  mar- 
ried. I  wrote  to  him  to  ask  how  matters  were 
going  with  him,  and  I  want  to  read  you  an  ex- 
tract from  the  letter  I  had  in  answer : 

"Suffice  it  to  say  that  my  old  position  paid 
me  thirty  dollars  per  week,  working  eight  hours 
a  day;  my  present  job  pays  me  twenty-five  dol- 
lars, and  the  day  is  ten  hours.  That's  what  it 
has  cost  so  far.  In  every  other  way  I  think  I 
am  safe  in  saying  that  the  sacrifice  has  paid  a 
1  hundred-fold.'  Sometimes  my.  heart  is  over- 
whelmed with  the  goodness  of  God  in  our  home 
life  which  has  seemed  to  follow  the  move ;  and 
some  happenings  that  have  lessened  our  home 
expenses  I  think  have  almost  balanced  the  petty 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  235 

financial  side.  I  am  a  thousand  times  glad  you 
helped  me  to  settle  the  question  right. ' ' 

But  that  man's  life  is  not  over  yet.  I  do  not 
know  what  you  think  about  it,  but  I  believe 
that  business  success  lies  ahead  of  him. 

For,  men,  the  strange  thing  about  it  is  that 
with  spiritual  power  that  has  been  purchased 
at  the  price  of  utter  self-sacrifice,  money-sacri- 
fice, sacrifice  of  everything  except  Christ,  will 
come  present,  temporal,  earthly  success.  Don't 
you  believe  it?  Didn't  you  know  you  had 
Christ's  own  word  for  this?     Listen! 

"  Jesus  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  There  is 
no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or  brethren,  or 
sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  chil- 
dren, or  lands,  for  my  sake,  and  the  Gospel's, 
but  he  shall  receive  an  hundred  fold  now  in  this 
time,  houses,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and 
mothers,  and  children,  and  lands,  with  perse- 
cution; and  in  the  world  to  come  eternal  life." 

No,  men,  the  winning  of  spiritual  power  is 
not  a  losing  game,  either  for  this  world  or  for 
the  next.  Its  price  is  "Service."  Remember 
what  has  been  so  well  said: 

"Power,  to  its  last  particle,  is  duty." 

Duty  that  tramples  on  self.  For  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  self  cannot  live  in  the  same  body. 

And  spiritual  power  is  of  value  only  as  it  is 
spent.  The  man  who  gets  it  to  hold  it,  loses  it. 
Spend  self  along  with  the  power,  if  you  would 
be  in  living  connection  with  the  power  that 
knows  no  end  or  limit. 


XVIII 

THE  MEN  OF  OUR  CHURCH,  AND  CIVIL 
AFFAIRS 

BY  IRA  LANDRITH,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Mr.  Chairman. — It  relieves  this  platform  of 
embarrassment  in  that  direction,  at  least,  when 
we  recall  the  fact  that  those  of  us  who  have 
been  honored  with  the  privilege  of  speaking 
here  have  not  had  a  committee  to  make  a  pro- 
gram for  the  future  of  this  Brotherhood  move- 
ment. What  we  say  is  of  no  larger  concern 
than  the  expression  of  private  opinion.  Yet 
to  some  of  us,  since  this  is  an  organization  for 
men,  it  has  seemed  very  plain  that  this  move- 
ment must  discuss  men's  problems,  must  attack 
men's  difficulties,  must  undertake  to  overcome 
men's  enemies.  Herein  lies  the  real  reason 
for  the  organization.  We  have  no  need  of 
another  church.  We  are  not  organizing  an- 
other Young  Men's  Christian  Association;  we 
need  but  one,  and  we  need  that  desperately. 
For  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  let 
it  be  said  here,  parenthetically  but  gratefully,  is 
the  bearing  out  of  the  idea  that  we  are  giving 
form  in  this  convention,  and  deserves  to  have 

236 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  237 

this  meed  of  praise  given  to  it,  that  it  made  ef- 
fective the  idea  that  a  man  who  is  a  member  of 
a  Christian  Association  for  men  only  cannot 
be  religious  in  the  name  of  his  wife. 

We  are  certainly  not  here  for  the  purpose  of 
f  organizing  another  Ladies '  Aid  Society  or  a 
sewing  circle  or  a  pink  tea.  This  is  a  federa- 
tion of  church  men  to  help  men  become  Chris- 
tians, to  help  masculine  Christians  to  become 
men,  and  do  both  these  things  through  men 
who  are  under  Presbyterian  influences. 

There  are  dangers  in  it.  There  is  the  danger 
that  it  may  aim  at  too  many  things  and  hit 
nothing.  There  is  even  the  danger  that  an 
organization  like  this  might  aim  at  nothing  and 
hit  it.  There  is,  of  course,  the  constant  hazard 
of  duplication  of  agencies  and  forces,  but  there 
is  more  real  danger  of  too  much  timidity  and 
too  much  regard  for  expediency,  and  too  much 
fear  of  hitting  something  worth  hitting.  Chris- 
tian men  in  this  country  could  do  what  they 
would  if  they  would  do  what  they  could. 

Conservatism  has  as  one  of  its  Websterian 
definitions,  "preservatism,"  and  there  is  a  dan- 
ger of  too  much  conservatism  in  a  movement 
like  this.  There  is  not  any  middle  ground  be- 
tween right  and  wrong.  There  is  no  place 
for  arbitration  between  good  and  bad.  There 
is  no  reason  why  a  movement  like  this 
should  be  afraid  to  hit  the  wrong  and  en- 
courage the  right.  But  the  church's  chief 
mission,  we  are  told,  everywhere  and  always, 


238  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

is  the  salvation  of  souls.  Let  it  be  con- 
ceded that  that  is  important,  but  the  salva- 
tion of  itself  and  the  commonwealth  of  the 
Spirit  is  the  chief  mission  of  the  church  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Its  business  is  to  make  this  busi- 
ness as  easy  as  possible.  Its  business  is  to  get 
the  difficulties  out  of  the  way  of  the  salvation 
and  spiritual  strength  of  men.  We  had  an 
evangelist  in  the  South  whose  recent  lamented 
death  we  regret,  who  belonged  to  his  own  class, 
and  who  ought  not  to  have  had  an  imitator,  who 
had  a  way  of  saying,  "We  Christians  are  fur 
enough  things,  but  we  are  not  agin'  enough.' ' 
There  is  danger  that  a  movement  like  this  may 
not  understand  that  the  evangelization  of 
America  would  be  hastened  if  we  would  get 
rid  of  a  good  deal  of  the  evil  that  is  licensed  in 
this  land,  and  mine  is  the  plea  to-night  for  the 
evangelization  of  America  by  the  use  of  the 
manhood  of  America  in  cleaning  America  up  so 
that  the  young  men  may  have  time  to  find  Christ. 
When  John  G.  Paton  came  back  to  America 
and  asked  us  to  send  no  more  grog  to  the 
islands  of  the  sea  because  the  presence  of  the 
liquor  was  a  menace  to  Christian  missionary  ac- 
tivity, we  applauded  him ;  yet,  when  an  Ameri- 
can stands  before  a  Christian  audience  in 
America  and  says,  "Get  rid  of  the  saloon,"  the 
men  who  continually  patronize  the  saloon  would 
tell  you  to  keep  out  of  politics.  Men  must  ab- 
hor that  which  is  evil  as  well  as  cleave  to  that 
which  is  good. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  239 

Now,  civil  affairs  are  men's  business.  Don't 
tell  me  that  I  have  no  business  in  politics  if 
politics  gets  rotten.  That  is  the  resort  of  the 
political  informer  everywhere  and  always. 
You  never  saw  a  red-nosed  ward-heeler  who 
didn't  claim  that  the  Christian  has  no  business 
in  politics,  and  it  is  taken  up  as  gospel  truth 
by  timid,  weak-kneed  cowardly  church  mem- 
bers. It  is  vice  that  has  no  business  in  politics. 
Hurl  it  back.  The  man  who  will  sell  his  vote, 
or  the  man  who  will  buy  one,  is  the  man  who 
ought  to  be  disfranchised.  If  a  Christian  is 
anything  he  is  a  specialist  in  what  is  right,  and 
if  he  is  a  specialist  in  what  is  right  he  ought 
to  know  what  is  right  in  politics,  and  he  has  not 
any  business  throwing  up  his  hands  and  plead- 
ing ignorance  when  politics  get  vicious.  We 
are  forever  appealing  to  the  example  of  Christ 
and  proving  by  it  to  our  complacent  satisfac- 
tion that  we  ought  to  fold  our  hands  and  mere- 
ly pray  for  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  I 
believe  as  implicitly  as  any  being  can  in  the 
presence  and  power  of  the  Spirit  of  Him  who 
promised  to  send  us  a  comforter,  but  because 
Christ  in  a  despotism  which  no  individual 
could  control  was  not  an  anarchist  and  a  nihi- 
list, we  insist  that  in  this  Eepublic  where  we 
are  all  kings  we  too  shall  undertake  to  let  the 
situation  remain  as  it  is.  But  Christ  rendered 
unto  Caesar  the  things  that  were  Caesar's.  He 
also  turned  the  rascals  out,  didn't  he?  and  ex- 
pressed himself  on  the  subject  of  public  vice. 


240 


THE   PKESBYTEEIAN    BEOTHEEHOOD 


Yet  we  are  told  because,  forsooth,  we  are 
Christians  we  do  not  need  to  know  anything 
about  it. 

This  whole  theory  of  Christian  imbecility  on 
political  matters  has  been  one  some  of  us  have 
submitted  to  as  complacently  as  we  could,  and 
we  have  not  been  proud  of  our  patience.  We 
ought  to  know,  we  ought  to  teach,  political 
moral  conditions  and  duties,  and  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that  since  this  is  an  organization  for 
men  only  some  of  these  things  are  likely  to  creep 
into  its  discussions.  Let  me  say  here,  lest 
somebody  go  away  and  misunderstand  me,  and 
therefore  misrepresent  me — for  nobody  could 
misrepresent  without  misunderstanding — that 
I  do  not  here  plead  for  a  religious  organization 
to  take  part  in  any  kind  of  political  movement, 
or  discussion  of  any  kind  of  political  question 
that  is  not  essentially  moral;  but  I  do  plead 
that  this  organization  and  the  men  who  belong 
to  it  shall  not  balk  when  a  question  of  morals 
chances  to  be  cloaked  in  political  guise.  We 
ought  to  know  and  not  be  afraid  to  tell  of  other 
facts  about  such  conditions  as  this,  that  great 
public  unrest  in  America, — things  that  because 
of  their  political  nature  are  responsible  for  la- 
bor troubles,  things  which  because  they  have  a 
moral  element  in  them  have  produced  political 
parties ;  things  which  have  had  much  to  do  with 
making  the  poor  poorer,  and  the  rich  richer; 
things  that  have  created  in  some  quarters  in 
this  country  that  wholesale  murder  which  is 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  241 

done  in  the  name  of  a  mob.  You  ought  to  know 
and  not  hesitate  to  tell  the  truth  about  grafting 
and  bribery.  For  political  corruption,  said  a 
great  American,  is  not  political  corruption. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  political  corruption; 
it  is  just  corruption.  We  ought  not  to  hesitate 
to  denounce  the  dangers  in  sectionalism.  We 
ought  not  to  be  afraid  to  consider  in  this  move- 
ment the  vices  that  have  crept  into  marriage 
and  divorce  in  this  country.  But,  gentlemen, 
when  we  have  done  all  these  things  and  a  hun- 
dred others  essential  in  politics  we  are  just 
bound  to  reach  the  one  great  evil,  the  so-called 
American  saloon. 

I  am  not  unaware  of  the  fact  that  our  lead- 
ing political  workers  in  this  country  have  tried 
to  disguise  the  fact  that  nearly  all  of  the  evil 
lies  back  of  the  green  baize  door,  but  the  fel- 
lows who  try  to  hide  it  and  tell  us  it  is  not  so 
lack  information.  We  have  heard  a  good  deal 
about  a  debased  currency.  It  is  high  time  we 
were  learning  the  dangers  of  a  debased  man- 
hood. We  have  heard  a  good  deal  about  the 
foreign  problem.  A  far  greater  problem  is  the 
home  one.  We  have  taken  care  of  our  infant 
industries;  it  is  high  time  we  were  taking  care 
of  our  infants  themselves.  It  has  not  been  so 
long  since  that  some  of  us  have  forgotten  it, 
that  the  two  great  national  parties  tried  to 
solve  the  financial  problem  in  the  neighborhood 
of  a  silver  mine,  and  yet  the  financial  problem 
is  to  close  up  the  saloon.    I  know  it  and  you 

16 


242  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

know  it.  I  do  not  want  to  dwell  upon  it,  and 
yet  we  spend  enough  money  on  liquor  to  buy 
six  Cubas.  We  talk  about  the  production  of 
silver,  and  in  one  year  we  spend  more  money 
for  liquor  than  we  took  out  of  the  ground  in 
twenty  years.  We  talk  about  such  things  when 
last  year  a  magazine  said  we  spent  enough 
money  for  liquor  to  build  homes  for  ^.ve  hun- 
dred thousand  families  in  America,  or  two  and 
a  half  million  people,  more  than  the  entire 
population  of  the  states  of  New  Hampshire, 
Ehode  Island,  Maine,  and  North  Dakota,  and 
clothing  and  provisions  for  twelve  months; 
spend  twenty  dollars  for  books ;  fifty  dollars  for 
church  and  charitable  purposes;  and  build  for 
each  family  houses  costing  one  thousand,  five 
hundred  dollars  apiece,  with  three  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  apiece  to  furnish  them,  leaving  a 
balance  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  million 
dollars  to  build  two  hundred  and  eighteen  thou- 
sand churches  costing  ^ve  thousand  dollars 
apiece. 

This  association  can  well  afford  to  promote 
the  publicity  of  such  facts  as  that.  This  associa- 
tion knows  and  everybody  else  knows  that  evil's 
greatest  dread  is  the  light.  When  we  tell  the 
truth  about  the  saloon  it  has  got  to  go.  When 
the  world  learns  how  vicious  it  is  it  will  not  stay 
an  hour.  Informed,  the  people  always  do  right, 
and  the  press  of  this  country  is  a  good  medium 
to  tell  the  truth  about  vice,  high  and  low.  I 
wish  I  had  the  time  to  pay  a  tribute  to  the  clean 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  243 

and  rapidly  growing  cleaner  character  of 
American  journalism,  which  is  ahead  of  Ameri- 
can public  sentiment. 

This  association  can  promote  political  purity 
and  it  ought  to  do  it.  The  time  has  come  when 
the  individual  Christian  cannot  afford  to  be 
less  than  politically  clean.  This  is  the  age  of 
being  not  only  good,  but  good  for  a  good  deal. 
Men  ought  to  vote  as  they  pray,  and  the  future 
of  our  church  will  depend  on  our  men  doing 
their  duty  inside  the  church.  Many  of  the  men 
in  this  country  are  hesitant  about  their  duties 
as  office  holders  because  of  the  denunciation 
of  office  holders.  Ten  years  ago  in  our  state  the 
politicians  in  our  state  said,  "If  you  interfere 
with  our  saloons  you  will  interfere  with  per- 
sonal liberty.' '  We  put  the  saloon  out  of  every 
town  in  the  state  but  thirteen  and  were  going  to 
put  them  out,  but  that  side  said  they  would  ex- 
tend the  temperance  laws  if  the  other  side 
wanted  them;  and  the  other  side  came  along 
and  said,  We  will  extend  them  whether  you 
want  them  or  not.  We  are  reaching  the  point 
where  it  is  about  as  wrong  to  steal  a  ballot  as 
to  steal  a  bullet;  that  a  franchise  stolen  is  no 
less  a  crime  than  to  steal  a  fortune ;  that  it  is  as 
bad  to  steal  by  a  corporation  as  by  a  trust  and 
no  more. 

This  association  can  well  afford  to  promote 
civic  activity.  Politically,  as  a  rule,  the  vir- 
tuous do  not  vote.  The  vicious  never  fail  to 
vote.     Twenty-five  per  cent  never  vote  at  all. 


244  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

You  will  remember — and  I  do  not  want  to  re- 
peat the  name  of  the  city  here — a  journalist 
went  to  a  certain  city  and  wrote  it  up.  He 
wrote  back  to  his  magazine,  "This  city  is  cor- 
rupt and  content,"  and  that  is  the  difficulty 
with  too  many  of  us.  I  would  like  to  be  rea- 
sonable, but  I  want  to  be  a  reasonable  radical. 

This  association  has  no  precedents.  It  is 
not  worried  with  partiality.  Suppose  it  under- 
takes to  make  it  evident  that  a  Christian  ought 
to  be  a  Christian  on  election  day  as  well  as  at 
prayer  meeting.  Suppose  it  becomes  one  of 
the  pieces  of  business  you  and  I  are  to  perform 
to  tell  a  man  that  he  ought  not  to  throw  his 
vote  away.  It  is  going  to  be  hard  work  to  do 
the  work  to  be  done  in  this  direction,  but  it  can 
be  done. 

Finally,  we  can  afford  to  teach  and  preach 
and  practice  political  patience  and  indefatig- 
ability.  Let  us  make  the  officers  we  elect  en- 
force the  laws  they  were  elected  to  enforce.  A 
man  who  reached  the  Presidency  of  the  United 
States  said,  "The  worst  evil  in  any  community 
is  unenforced  law."  The  trouble  with  the  vir- 
tuous men  in  politics  is  that  they  get  tired  too 
early.  "We  ought  to  teach  the  truth  that  the 
man  who  enters  the  fight  ought  to  be  a  tireless 
individual. 

But  now  I  am  done — I  wish  I  were  done — I 
want  to  close  with  this  word — No,  I  won't. 
Do  you  know  what  kind  of  a  temptation  you  are 
submitting    me    to!     If    you    knew    me,    you 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  245 

wouldn't  have  done  that.     But  I  prayed  this. 
day,  "Lead  us  not  into  temptation." 

Finally,  brethren,  this  President  of  the 
United  States,  who  deserves  a  good  many  of 
the  things  said  about  him,  good,  few  of  the 
things  said  about  him,  bad — and  I  have  heard 
nothing  worse  about  him  than  that  I  sometimes 
look  like  him — the  President  of  the  United 
States  is  said  to  have  had  the  manhood  to  de- 
clare, "When  I  see  a  thing  is  true  I  will  go  to 
work  to  put  it  through. ' '  That  is  what  we  are 
asking  you  to  do. 


XIX 

THE  MEN  OF  OUR  CHURCH  AND  BIBLE 
STUDY 

BY  W.  W.  WHITE,  D.D. 

Over  our  heads  hangs  a  banner  with  a 
strange  device:  Nee  tamen  consumebatur — "It 
was  not  consumed."  Why?  Because  God  was 
in  it.  Beneath  that  banner  hangs  another  and 
on  it  are  the  words,  "Brotherhood  in  Service.' ' 
Will  it  be  consumed?  That  depends.  Back 
of  the  Brotherhood,  back  of  the  service,  back 
of  social  service,  back  of  evangelism,  back  of 
politics,  back  of  manhood,  are  the  people  and 
the  God  who  is  in  the  people.  There  is  a  hand. 
There  are  five  ringers,  and  every  finger  comes 
out  of  the  hand.  Bible  study  sustains  the  re- 
lationship of  the  hand  to  these  five  fingers. 

The  speaker  who  has  just  preceded  me  has 
said  that  this  organization  has  no  precedents. 
If  I  am  not  mistaken  it  has  no  constitution  yet. 
We  have  heard  of  the  Kentucky  senator,  was 
it? — some  senator  who  had  lost  his  health,  and 
some  one  remarked  to  him  that  he  had  lost  his 
constitution.  Yes,  he  said  he  had,  and  was  liv- 
ing on  the  by-laws.  Now  we  can  get  along 
246 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  247 

without  a  constitution;  we  can  get  along  with- 
out by-laws,  even,  but  you  will  not  be  able  to 
exist,  to  make  progress,  or  to  be  fruitful,  un- 
less you  make  very  prominent  in  your  plan  of 
work  the  Bible  study  department  of  this  move- 
ment. The  Bishop  of  Liverpool  has  said  that 
one  great  need  of  our  age  is  prayerful,  syste- 
matic study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  I  came 
across  this  most  interesting  sentence  from 
Spurgeon  only  last  week.  He  said  once,  "We 
ought  to  make  every  effort  to  know  the  truth 
better,  but  we  must  understand,  to  begin  with, 
that  we  shall  never  know  better  truth."  I 
think  I  may  venture  to  thank  God  in  the  pres- 
ence of  this  great  company  of  men  that  they 
are  not  disposed  to  seek  for  better  truth,  and  I 
believe  that  I  voice  your  sentiment  when  I  stand 
here  in  your  presence  to-night  and  call  you  all 
to  a  better  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

Here  is  a  proposition  with  which  we  should 
begin,  that  we  should  set  ourselves  to  know  the 
Bible  better  and  the  Bible  as  it  is.  From  my 
friend  Colonel  Brown,  who  is  known  as  the 
"Bird  and  Bee  Man  of  Indiana,"  I  got  once 
a  most  helpful  illustration  of  a  point  I  want 
to  make  plain  right  here.  He  pictured  a  man 
going  out  and  observing  a  bird  darting  among 
the  bees  in  his  yard.  He  concluded  the  bird 
was  eating  the  bees,  so  he  went  and  got  a  shot- 
gun and  killed  the  bird.  Just  as  the  bird  fell 
a  friend  came  along  and  said,  "Why  did  you  do 
that!"    He    said,    "That    bird   is   eating  my 


248  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

bees."  The  friend  said,  "Let  us  examine  the 
bees  that  the  bird  has  eaten."  So  they  took 
the  body  of  the  bird  and  opened  it  and  exam- 
ined the  bees  and  found  that  not  a  single  bee 
in  that  bird's  craw  had  a  stinger  in  it.  He 
found  that  this  bird  was  eating  the  drones  and 
that  a  surplus  of  these  bees  was  provided  by 
nature  for  this  bird. 

This  illustration  is  for  the  purpose  of  em- 
phasizing this  fact,  which  as  I  study  the  Bible, 
I  am  more  and  more  persuaded  we  should  rec- 
ognize, that  we  should  let  the  Bible  alone,  just 
as  we  ought  to  let  nature  alone  until  we  know 
what  nature's  processes  are  and  what  her  rea- 
sons are  for  doing  things.  I  believe  that  the 
God  who  has  made  nature  round  us  has  given 
us  the  Bible,  and  the  more  and  more  cautious 
am  I  about  changing  the  Bible  the  more  and 
more  am  I  persuaded  that  the  thing  for  you 
and  me  to  do  is  to  study  the  Bible;  that  is,  to 
study  it  for  practical  purposes. 

I  have  been  father  confessor  for  college  stu- 
dents in  the  East  and  the  West  in  reference  to 
the  study  of  the  Bible,  and  one  of  the  great  mis- 
takes the  colleges  and  some  seminaries  are  mak- 
ing is  that  they  are  reconstructing  the  Bible; 
that  they  are  spending  the  time  that  ought  to 
be  spent  in  knowing  the  Bible  in  deciding  ques- 
tions about  controverted  dates  and  other  ques- 
tions about  the  Bible,  instead  of  coming  to  the 
study  of  the  book  itself  first  of  all.  There  is  a 
time  for  the  study  of  those  questions,  but  for 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  249 

young  people  at  any  rate,  that  time  is  after 
they  have  known  the  Bible  and  have  become 
persuaded  by  the  actual  test  of  it  that  it  is  the 
word  of  God.  Here  is  a  bicycle.  A  man  has 
never  seen  a  bicycle  or  known  of  its  use  by 
experience  or  observation,  and  somebody  tells 
him  that  this  is  a  bicycle,  and  that  it  is  capa- 
ble of  carrying  him  along  the  road.  You  might 
have  difficulty  in  persuading  him  of  the  truth  of 
that,  but  after  he  himself  had  had  experience 
on  a  bicycle  he  would  be  safe  in  taking  it  to 
pieces  and  examining  its  parts.  There  is  a  re- 
versal of  the  order  to-day,  which  is  not  best. 

I  want  to  speak  first  of  the  message  of  the 
Bible.  The  great  message  of  the  Bible  is  God. 
Awhile  ago  I  was  asked  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to 
prepare  a  series  of  studies  on  Old  Testament 
characters.  I  studied  Abraham.  Before  I 
studied  him  long  I  discovered  I  wasn't  study- 
ing men,  but  God.  The  God  of  Abraham. 
Now  I  realize  that  the  Bible  tells  us  about  God 
before,  but  we  know  how  we  have  realized  the 
truth  for  years  and  how  all  at  once  it  flashes 
out.  I  had  a  wonderful  experience  in  studying 
these  old  testament  characters  in  relation  to 
God,  and  I  understood  that  in  the  selection  of 
the  material  in  the  Bible,  the  writers  have  se- 
lected that  about  these  men  and  women  which 
relates  to  God  and  God's  character.  It  is  God 
we  want  if  we  are  going  to  stand  for  the  right, 
and  if  our  children  are  going  to  stand  for  the 
right;  and  if  those  people  who  are  coming  in- 


250  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

to  our  country  by  the  million  are  going  to  stand 
for  the  right,  we  must  have  an  unprecedented 
advance  in  the  knowledge  we  give  ourselves, 
and  we  must  have  an  unprecedented  advance 
in  the  propagation  of  the  word  of  God. 

May  I  stop  right  here  to  suggest  that  one  of 
the  best  resolutions  that  a  man  from  this  point 
can  make  is  that  he  will  study  the  Bible,  not 
merely  for  the  purpose — that  will  come  inci- 
dentally— of  strengthening  his  own  Christian 
life,  but  in  order  that  he  may  make  other  peo- 
ple know  his  God?  If  you  will  allow  me  to  be 
intensely  practical  I  should  like  to  suggest  that 
one  of  the  best  things  you  can  do  to  fill  your 
church  is  to  organize  a  little  circle  for  Bible 
study  somewhere  in  a  room — we  call  them  in 
New  York,  "Dining-room  Bible  classes.' '  One 
of  the  things  to  do  is  to  go  to  some  man  and 
have  him  invite  in  some  of  his  neighbors  once  a 
week  and  you  read  a  chapter  to  them  and  talk 
about  it  awhile. 

This  body  has  no  precedents.  Do  something 
unprecedented  in  the  line  of  Bible  study.  I 
wish  the  laymen  of  this  convention  would  set 
the  great  Presbyterian  Church  on  fire  by  re- 
questing, or  demanding,  if  you  cannot  get  it 
otherwise,  of  its  ministry  the  exposition  of  the 
Scriptures.  Suggest  to  your  minister  some- 
thing like  this :  Have  him  take  a  vote  on  the  ten 
most  popular  chapters  in  the  Bible,  and  you 
will  find  how  many  chapters  you  would  like  to 
number  in  this  list.     The  fourteenth  chapter  of 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  251 

John  will  be  one  of  them.  Have  him  announce 
the  week  before  that  in  the  second  service  he 
will  give  five  reasons  why  the  chapter  of  John 
is  one  of  the  most  popular  chapters  in  the  Bible, 
and  before  he  gives  those  five  reasons  himself 
he  will  study  to  find  out  why  the  chapter  is  the 
most  popular  chapter  in  the  Bible.  What  we 
want  in  this  day  is  to  put  a  stimulus  into  the 
study  of  the  Bible.  We  want  to  stimulate  men 
to  examine  the  Scriptures  themselves  and  then 
allow  them  to  express  themselves  concerning 
them. 

One  of  the  secrets  of  success  in  teaching  is 
in  assigning  a  lesson.  Assign  a  lesson  to  your- 
self and  then  give  the  class  the  lesson  and  give 
a  reason  for  it.  Put  yourself  in  a  position  so 
that  it  will  be  necessary  for  you  to  prepare 
your  lesson. 

I  had  an  interesting  experience  with  a  min- 
ister in  the  East  this  last  winter.  He  was 
afraid  to  break  away  from  his  way  of  preach- 
ing. I  said:  "Take  a  chapter  and  spend  all 
week  on  it  if  necessary.  Get  a  theme  from  it 
and  preach  on  it  as  a  whole.' '  He  tried  it. 
He  went  before  the  congregation  and  preached 
for  the  first  time  on  a  whole  chapter.  He  trem- 
bled all  through  it,  but  I  congratulated  him  up- 
on the  result  and  he  has  been  preaching  on  that 
line  ever  since. 

Let  me  come  back  to  the  second  part  of  the 
thought  and  I  shall  close.  The  thought  is  the 
opportunity  of  the  people  and  the  opportunity 


252  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

of  the  ministry  that  I  have  spoken  of.  Some 
people  think  Bible  study  is  an  end  in  itself. 
Let  ns  have  the  effect  of  that:  "Search  the 
scriptures,  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal 
life:  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me. 
And  ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  might 
have  life."  Those  Jews  made  the  mistake 
which  a  great  many  people  nowadays  are  mak- 
ing of  stopping  with  the  word  of  God  itself 
and  not  going  to  him  to  whom  the  word  of  God 
points.  In  emphasis  of  that  point  I  use  this 
illustration.  A  man  was  going  along  the  road 
and  saw  a  guide  post  and  an  Irishman  sitting 
upon  the  cross-bar  of  the  guide  post.  He  said, 
"What  are  you  sitting  there  for?"  He  said, 
"Don't  you  see?  This  says  it  will  take  you  to 
Malvern.  I  have  been  here  two  hours  waiting 
for  the  thing  to  start."  A  great  many  people 
stop  with  the  Bible  itself  instead  of  going  to 
him  to  whom  the  Bible  points. 

The  third  thought  I  should  like  to  develop 
is  the  great  power  of  the  Bible.  In  the  second 
Epistle  to  Timothy  we  have  this  passage: 
"From  a  babe  thou  hast  known  the  sacred  writ- 
ings which  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  sal- 
vation. ' ' 

We  have  been  taking  that  16th  verse  out  and 
making  it  a  full  proof  of  inspiration.  Now  the 
doctrine  of  inspiration  is  all  right,  but  Paul  was 
not  thinking  of  the  doctrine  of  inspiration,  but 
about  the  use  of  the  word  of  God.  He  said 
to  Timothy,  "Abide  thou  in  the  word  which  is 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  253 

able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation."  In 
addition  to  being  able  to  make  wise  nnto  sal- 
vation, by  teaching,  by  reproof,  and  by  correc- 
tion the  Scriptures  are  able  to  make  the  men  of 
God  "complete,  furnished  completely  unto 
every  good  work."  I  used  to  think  it  was  my 
duty  to  bring  people  to  Christ.  Now  I  recog- 
nize the  fact  that  God  has  appointed  a  means  to 
bring  men  to  Christ.  The  word  is  able  to  bring 
men  to  salvation  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus. 
It  is  my  duty  to  know  the  word  of  God.  It  is 
my  duty  to  know  my  God. 

The  last  thought  is  the  great  result  of  the 
study  of  the  Bible.  I  have  seen  my  father  walk 
through  a  field  with  a  sack  over  his  shoulder 
scattering  grain.  That  was  before  the  time  of 
drills.  I  remember  it,  and  I  am  not  so  old. 
Now  you  remember  the  parable  of  the  sower, 
and  the  teaching,  "Take  heed  what  ye  hear," 
that  follows.  It  would  take  a  man  down  and 
back,  and  down  and  back  again,  to  sow  the 
width  of  this  building.  Here  was  a  hard  path- 
way, and  this  man  went  down  the  field  and  re- 
gardless of  the  different  kinds  of  soil,  he  scat- 
tered the  seed.  The  seed  that  fell  upon  the 
hard  pathway  the  birds  of  the  air  came  and 
took  away.  The  pathway  had  the  seed  taken 
away  from  it  because  it  would  not  receive  it. 
But  the  fertile  soil  received  the  seed  and  the 
result  was  that  it  returned  some  thirty,  some 
sixty,  and  some  a  hundredfold.  "Take  heed 
what  ye  hear."    Look  out  for  hearsay.     The 


254  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

Lord  is  not  talking  about  any  kind  of  seed 
other  than  good  seed.  For  he  said,  "The  seed 
is  the  word  of  God."  It  is  a  good  seed  in  this 
connection  and  the  thing  he  wants  us  to  do  is 
to  take  heed  of  what  we  do.  He  also  tells  us 
in  regard  to  the  kingdom,  that  the  seed  which 
is  sown  must  die  if  it  is  not  sown  in  the  right 
way;  and  since  the  kingdom  must  die  no  fruit- 
fulness  must  result. 

Eead  before  you  go  home — and  this  is  my 
last  word — the  fourth  chapter  of  2Jechariah, 
which  has  in  it  that  well-known  word,  "Not  by 
might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit.' '  You 
have  the  illustration  of  the  olive  tree  growing 
beside  the  candle-stick.  The  oil  is  flowing  out 
of  the  olive  tree  into  the  lamp  and  the  lights 
are  burning.  That  is  the  picture  I  should  like 
to  leave  with  you  to-night.  Take  heed  to  the 
inner  life.  Be  careful  about  your  own  life. 
Study  the  Bible  for  the  purpose  of  improving 
your  life.  Let  the  life  which  comes  into  you 
go  out  and  it  will  be  everlasting  and  fruitful. 


XX 

THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  WOELD 

BY  ROBERT  E.  SPEER 

Every  movement  must  have  its  goal.  If  it 
is  a  movement  in  any  true  sense  at  all,  it  must 
be  moving  toward  some  end,  and  the  clearness 
with  which  it  discerns  its  end,  and  the  intensity 
and  steadfastness  with  which  it  pursues  it,  are 
the  elements  which  determine  the  power  of  the 
movement  and  the  weight  of  its  impact  on  life. 

It  is  from  this  view  that  we  understand  the 
power  of  the  early  church.  It  did  not,  it  is 
true,  at  once  discern  what  its  great  purpose 
was,  but  when  it  had  come  to  see  clearly  why 
it  was  in  the  world  it  set  about  attaining  its 
object  with  an  intensity  and  a  steadfastness 
which  enabled  it  to  shake  the  world.  We  un- 
derstand in  the  same  way  the  tremendous  power 
with  which  the  movement  of  Mohammedanism 
began  twelve  hundred  years  ago.  It  had  a 
great  purpose,  and  realizing  what  that  purpose 
was  in  the  effort  to  attain  that  purpose  it  was 
ready  to  make  any  sacrifice,  and  Islam  swept 
out  irresistibly  over  the  world.  And  Islam 
has  degenerated  and  become  impotent  to-day 

255 


256  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

simply  because  it  has  lost  that  great  object  or 
purpose,  and  so  far  as  the  Christian  Church  is 
impotent  to-day  it  is  because  it  has  forgotten 
what  its  original  object  was,  has  ceased  to  be 
an  army  engaged  in  a  great,  aggressive  cam- 
paign, and  has  actually  descended  to  singing 
about  its  being  a  "garden  walled  around.' ' 

There  has  always  been  and  is  still  a  divine 
Power  in  the  church  which  has  prevented  and 
will  always  prevent  it  from  sinking  as  low  as 
Mohammedanism  has  sunk.  But  the  great  need 
of  the  church  to-day  and  the  great  need  of 
every  agency  of  the  church  is  another  discovery, 
or  a  re-revealing  of  what  its  great  object  or 
purpose  is,  and  then  a  fresh  dedication  of  sac- 
rificial zeal  in  achieving  that  purpose  in  the 
world. 

Now  we  cannot  create  a  purpose  that  would 
support  a  great  movement.  We  cannot  gal- 
vanize a  great  movement  into  life  by  assigning 
to  it  any  artificially  created  purpose;  we  can 
only  keep  it  going  when  it  has  a  purpose,  a  pur- 
pose which  is  never  forgotten  and  which  can  be 
communicated  to  men. 

I  have  a  friend,  once  professor  in  a  theolog- 
ical school,  who  told  me  after  an  extended 
visit  among  the  schools  of  the  church  that  the 
thing  that  made  him  most  sorrowful  as  he  went 
about  was  the  obscuring  of  the  objective  pur- 
pose of  the  church,  the  apparent  forgetfulness 
of  what  the  church  was  in  the  world  for,  and 
of  training  life  to  a  realization  of  that  pur- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  257 

pose  as  the  business  of  the  church  as  well  as 
of  every  member  of  the  church;  and  we  can 
not  do  better  in  this  closing  hour  of  our  gather- 
ing in  this  convention  than  to  try  to  re-define 
to  ourselves  what  the  great,  dominant  and  con- 
trolling purpose  must  be. 

Now,  gentlemen,  it  must  be  something  great, 
and  that  means  it  cannot  be  anything  local. 
We  cannot  maintain  the  Christian  Church  on 
issues  confined  to  any  one  nation,  however  great 
and  valuable  and  important  those  issues  may 
be.  We  have  got  to  set  before  a  movement  like 
the  movement  of  the  Christian  Church — a 
movement  like  this  represented  here  this  even- 
ing— an  object  broader  than  can  be  found  with- 
in the  interests  of  any  one  nation.  We  have 
got  to  have  a  purpose  so  great  that  none  of  the 
interests  of  mankind  are  foreign  to  that  pur- 
pose. It  must  be  a  definite  object.  We  can- 
not maintain  a  great  movement  like  the  Chris- 
tian Church  on  an  object  that  can  be  spread 
over  interminable  centuries.  If  we  would  have 
a  church  like  the  Apostolic  Church,  we  have 
got  to  set  before  it  an  object  that  is  a  compel- 
ling object.  It  must  be  heroic  and  sacrificial. 
We  cannot  claim  the  kind  of  life  that  we  pro- 
pose to  claim  for  Jesus  Christ  and  his  church 
by  any  object  that  does  not  claim  from  men  ab- 
solutely everything.  If  we  do  not  demand  much 
from  men,  we  will  not  get  much  from  them.  If 
you  demand  everything  you  will  get  everything. 

When  the  Lord  walked  out  into  the  world 

17 


258  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

and  wanted  to  find  men  on  whose  shoulders  he 
could  lay  the  responsibility  of  his  kingdom,  he 
did  not  get  them  by  offering  to  give  them  any- 
thing, he  got  these  men  by  demanding  of  them 
absolutely  the  sacrifice  of  everything. 

I  have  heard  a  great  many  discussions  as 
to  why  it  is  that  the  young  men  are  not  coming 
in  larger  numbers  into  the  Christian  ministry. 
There  are  many  reasons.  I  will  tell  you  that 
one  of  the  reasons  is  that  the  appeal  is  not 
made  sufficiently  heroic  and  sacrificial  to  them. 
Some  of  the  best  men  in  school  and  college 
give  over  their  purpose  because  the  method  of 
the  presentation  of  the  claims  of  the  Christian 
ministry  obscures  to  their  vision  the  heroic 
sacrifice  of  the  service  of  Christ.  If  you  are 
going  to  get  the  kind  of  men  you  want  you 
have  got  to  present  to  them  the  life  heroic  and 
sacrificial.  Where  can  you  find  it  except  where 
the  early  church  found  it?  Not  in  any  ficti- 
tious object,  not  in  any  humanly  created  ob- 
ject, but  in  the  object  that  brought  Christ  him- 
self down  into  the  world,  the  object  he  formu- 
lated when  he  was  saying,  "  Uttermost  Parts/ ' 
And  when  the  church  came  to  itself  and  came  to 
a  realization  of  what  its  great  purpose  in  the 
world  was,  the  early  church  did  not  conceive 
its  mission  to  be  merely  social  or  merely  politi- 
cal; it  did  not  conceive  its  mission  to  be  any- 
thing small  or  transitory  or  un-universal ;  it 
conceived  its  mission  to  be  nothing  less  than 
the  realization  of  the  experience  of  Christ  in 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  259 

the  life  of  every  man  in  the  church  and  that  the 
men  of  the  church  shall  present  Christ  to  the 
experience  of  every  other  man  in  the  world. 
And  with  that  great  object  before  it,  knowing 
it  had  work,  and  a  definite,  imperative  work 
to  do,  it  went  out  and  shook  the  mighty  world. 
And  what  we  want  to-day  is  simply  a  naked 
uncovering,  and  by  the  church,  of  what  her 
great  and  imperative  mission  in  the  world  is. 

I  do  not  say  the  church  has  not  other  mis- 
sions. I  said  to  Dr.  Landrith,  that  the  church 
has  many  missions,  but  they  are  dependent  upon 
her  great  and  primary  mission,  and  that  great 
and  primary  mission  was  the  personal  experi- 
ence of  Christ,  and  the  presentation  of  Christ  to 
the  experience  of  every  nation  of  men  the 
world  around.  We  can  put  it  all  in  one  very 
simple  phrase,  in  a  phrase  which  I  have  been 
assigned  to  speak  upon  this  evening,  The  Great 
Mission  of  the  Church:  The  Evangelization  of 
the  World.  Now  that  does  not  mean,  let  us 
make  it  clear,  that  we  have  set  before  ourselves 
an  undefined  non-understood  object;  that  does 
not  mean  the  conversion  of  the  world.  We  can- 
not define  any  movement  by  what  it  does  not 
hope  to  effect.  Our  Lord  does  not  expect  to 
convert  everybody.  If  Christ  could  not  convert 
men,  do  you  suppose  you  and  I  can  do  it?  The 
best  we  can  offer  to  men  is  that  which  it  is  with- 
in the  power  of  every  man  to  reject  if  he  will. 
The  church  has  no  charge  to  convert  the  world ; 
it  has  no  power  to  do  so.     The  great  primary 


260  THE  PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

object  of  the  church  is  to  make  Christ  known 
to  the  hearts  of  men.  Can  we  contemplate  a 
simpler,  nobler  object  than  that?  In  the  most 
civilized  section  of  our  own  land  all  that  has 
been  done  so  far,  as  it  is  truly  real  and  abiding, 
is  the  result  of  planting  the  life  of  Christ  in  the 
hearts  of  men;  and  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  is  the  carrying  of  that  life,  the  life  which 
can  alone  work  the  reclamation  of  the  world, 
all  over  this  world,  an  offer  of  it  to  every 
human  life  the  world  around. 

That  was  the  primary  purpose  of  the  church 
at  the  beginning.  That  was  the  principle  ob- 
ject set  before  the  church  as  the  men  who  con- 
stituted the  early  church  understood  it.  That 
was  the  great  personal  ambition  of  Paul,  that 
he  might  make  Christ  known  where  he  was  not 
known;  that  he  might  not  build  on  other  men's 
foundations  but  that  he  might  carry  that  great 
gospel  to  all  the  world. 

I  ask  you  gentlemen,  for  a  moment,  what 
would  be  the  effect  of  a  realization  by  the 
church  of  that  as  the  great  object  and  purpose 
of  the  church  to-day?  Oh,  what  a  clarifying 
of  the  vision  there  would  be!  Oh,  what  an 
illumination  of  the  vision  there  would  be !  Oh, 
what  sacrifice  and  love!  Oh,  how  men  would 
begin  to  plan  their  lives  in  an  entirely  different 
way !  There  is  not  a  man  in  this  hall  this  even- 
ing who  would  not  go  out  and  rearrange  all 
the  activities  of  his  life  if  this  object  dominated 
his  life.    They  would  plan  their  lives  as  though 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  261 

this  was  the  primary  business  of  life.  The 
church  would  move  out  to  do  her  legitimate  pri- 
mary work,  which  is  to  make  Jesus  Christ 
known  to  all  the  world.  All  our  Christian  ac- 
tivity here  at  home  will  be  limited  and  ham- 
pered in  its  power  so  long  as  the  Christian 
Church  is  blind  to  what  its  business  is  and 
forfeits  this  great  increase  in  power  which  will 
come  to  her  only  when  she  goes  everywhere 
with  her  message.  The  Presbyterian  Church 
has  forgotten  her  great  primary  business  in 
the  world,  because  the  individual  men  in  the 
church  have  forgotten  it,  and  you  and  I  need 
that  our  personal  eyes  be  opened  just  as  truly 
as  the  church  needs  it  for  her  corporate  life. 
Men  are  leading  to-day  as  they  never  led  be- 
fore. But  men  serve  temporary  and  transient 
interests  now.  We  must  be  allied  with  some 
great  and  masterly  cause.  You  are  not  going 
to  get  great  men  isolated  from  a  cause.  Even 
a  weak  man  can  be  made  strong  by  a  great 
cause,  and  the  great  need  of  this  Brotherhood, 
the  great  need  of  all  the  men  of  our  church, 
the  great  need  of  all  the  men  of  all  the 
churches  is  just  the  clear  perception  of  what 
the  business  of  the  Christian  man's  life  is 
in  the  world,  which  is  absolute  devotion  to 
that  great  cause  which  brought  Christ  down 
here  and  laid  the  life  of  God  on  the  souls  of 
men. 

I  should  like  to  say  a  word  practically  as  to 
what  this  is  to  mean.     Over  in  the  other  section 


262  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

of  the  world  we  have  lands  for  which  we  are 
responsible.  The  Board  with  which  I  am  con- 
nected is  trying  to  deal  with  that  problem. 
And  it  is  not  a  hard  problem.  If  we  could 
multiply  by  five  the  money  and  men  and  women 
we  have  we  could  succeed  in  one  generation  in 
bringing  the  gospel  into  the  reach  of  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  of  the  hundred  millions 
or  less  who  constitute  our  peculiar  people. 
Our  Presbyterian  Church  thinks  it  an  imprac- 
tical undertaking?  Men  would  not  hesitate  to 
undertake  a  great  interest  such  as  this  here  at 
home.  Every  man  ought  to  realize  that  Christ 
called  men  to  do  such  things.  What  did  he  say 
to  the  first  disciples?  "If  you  will  come  after 
me  I  will  make  you  rich  so  that  you  will  have 
the  power  of  money  ?  If  you  will  come  with  me 
I  will  give  you  political  power?  If  you  will 
come  along  with  me  I  will  make  you  fishers  of 
men.  I  will  link  you  to  me,  you  shall  give 
light  upon  darkness,  and  call  men  back  from 
their  wanderings,  and  prove  to  them  that  they 
can  have  life  and  purity  and  power. ' '  Is  there 
anything  impractical  in  that? 

In  taking  up  our  personal  obligation  and  duty 
here  as  men  whose  duty  it  is  to  deal  with  men, 
I  want  to  make  that  point  just  a  little  more 
clear,  to  set  it  in  the  right  relations  with  what 
we  have  heard  earlier  this  evening.  Our  busi- 
ness is  to  right  all  wrong,  to  stop  all  evil  and 
vice  and  sin;  but  our  business  is  also  to  keep 
our  eye  on  the  man. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  263 

Now  our  Lord  never  lost  sight  of  the  man  he 
was  after.  In  the  midst  of  the  abuses  and  the 
evil,  not  as  you  and  I,  did  he  see  first  the  great 
wrong.  That  was  illustrated  in  the  instance  of 
the  Levite ;  did  he  see  the  wrong  that  was  em- 
bodied there!  He  saw  not  a  system,  not  a 
wrong  principle;  he  saw  a  man.  And  I  think 
our  Lord's  social  teaching  was  obiter,  by  the 
way.  He  threw  himself  against  the  social  evils 
of  his  time,  and  we  are  bound  to  go  out  fighting 
the  wrong.  Nevertheless  Jesus  Christ  never 
allowed  himself  by  any  enthusiasm  for  the 
reformation  of  the  world  which  he  felt,  never 
allowed  himself  by  bitterness,  antagonism,  in- 
justice or  wrong  to  any  one,  all  of  which  he 
felt  more  intensely  than  we  can  feel  them — 
never  allowed  himself  to  be  turned  from  the 
man  to  be  reached.  And  we  may  be  sure,  if  we 
catch  his  spirit,  if  the  great  primary  business  of 
the  church  becomes  clear  to  us,  we  will  see  these 
men  here,  there,  everywhere,  and  make  it  the 
first  hunger  of  our  hearts  to  bring  them  to  him, 
and  evangelize,  which  is  our  business  here. 
And  he  will  allow  absolutely  nothing  to  inter- 
fere with  that  great  mission  of  his. 

I  have  heard  men  balk  at  times  at  that  arti- 
cle in  the  creed  which  says,  "He  descended  into 
hell."  To  be  sure  he  did.  Do  you  suppose 
Jesus  Christ  would  stop  at  hell?  No.  And  if 
there  were  other  hells,  he  would  dare  go  there 
too.  Hell  itself  could  not  stay  him,  and  those 
who  catch  his  spirit  will  not  be  stayed  by  hell, 


264  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

nor  with  any  of  those  expressions  of  hell  with 
which  men  meet  in  the  world. 

And  last  of  all,  there  is  no  body  of  men  on 
whom  this  clearer  vision  of  the  great  purpose 
of  the  church  can  be  laid  with  more  propriety 
than  upon  a  body  of  laymen  like  this.  Our  re- 
ligion is  a  layman's  religion.  I  say  it  rever- 
ently. Its  Founder  was  a  layman.  He  was  no 
member  of  the  tribe  of  Levi.  He  was  not  an 
ordained  ecclesiastic.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
was  a  layman  just  as  we  are.  The  apostles 
were  laymen.  None  was  a  priest.  The  eleven 
men  on  whom  he  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
kingdom,  and  the  twelfth  man  afterwards 
added,  were  laymen,  like  the  illustrious,  the 
great,  men  who  have  carried  it  from  genera- 
tion to  generation.  And  the  founders  of  this 
movement  of  which  we  are  thinking  last  of  all 
were  laymen.  Eaymond  Lull  was  only  a  lay- 
man; William  Carey  was  only  a  layman  when 
he  first  began  to  think  of  our  missionary  enter- 
prise. It  was  a  little  band  of  college  students 
in  whose  prayer  meeting  originated  a  hundred 
years  ago  the  first  American  missionary  so- 
ciety; and  we  are  right  here  this  evening  in 
believing  that  it  is  to  be  our  privilege  to  carry 
this  great  objective  purpose  of  the  church,  un- 
der the  ministers  of  the  church,  to  fulfillment. 

The  first  great  secretary  of  our  missionary 
organization  was  a  layman,  a  United  States 
Senator,  who  resigned  his  position  as  Secretary 
of  the  United  States  Senate  to  become  its  secre- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  265 

tary.  The  first  treasurer  of  the  American 
Board  and  its  second  secretary,  who  did  more 
to  shape  its  missionary  work  than  any  other 
man,  was  a  layman;  and  yon  and  I  are  only 
gathering  our  own,  when  we  take  up  the  task 
from  those  we  have  appointed  as  leaders.  To 
our  own  obligation  and  purpose,  our  own  privi- 
lege, we  come  when  we  take  a  share  in  this  en- 
terprise. I  think  myself  God  has  been  waiting 
for  the  laymen  to  come  to  this  day. 

It  was  a  great  thing  in  principle  that  he  did 
in  the  Incarnation.  "I  will  go  down,"  says 
God,  "and  I  will  save  man  by  himself."  He 
might  have  saved  him  otherwise  if  he  wanted 
to.  He  might  have  reached  them  and  saved 
men  by  a  distant  intervention  from  above. 
Man  lost  himself,  he  said;  man  shall  save  him- 
self. I  will  go  down  and  by  a  common  man  I 
will  deliver  man  from  his  sins.  The  Lord  must 
have  felt  the  joy  of  battle  against  the  limita- 
tions that  shut  him  in  as  man,  by  which  he  was 
to  deliver  man.  Maybe  God  has  been  waiting 
for  that  to  happen  in  the  church — for  the  com- 
mon men  in  the  church  to  make  their  business 
what  was  the  great  business  that  brought  Christ 
down  here,  the  great  business  that  led  to  the 
organization  of  the  church,  the  great  business 
that  has  kept  the  church  alive  these  twenty  cen- 
turies in  the  world,  the  business  now  of  com- 
pleting what  Jesus  Christ  began. 

Shall  we  have  that  great  purpose  made  clear 
to  us  to-night  and  then  bring  these  personal 


266  THE  PRESBYTEBIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

lives  of  ours  into  absolute  and  untrammeled 
subjection  to  it?  I  remember  some  lines  I 
heard  Dr.  Edward  Hodge  quote  in  one  of  his 
most  earnestly  strong  addresses,  before  the 
Synod  of  Ohio,  and  wrote  them  out  a  little 
while  afterward.  It  is  from  that  old  poem  on 
Samuel : — 

"I  ask  no  heaven  till  earth  be  thine, 
No  glory  crown  while  work  of  mine 

Eemaineth  here.     When  earth  shall  shine 
Among  the  stars; 

Her  sins  cast  out,  her  captives  free, 
Her  voice  a  music  unto  thee, 

For  crown?  More  work  give  thou  to  me. 
Lord,  here  I  am." 

For  one  thing  first  of  all,  and  all  other  things 
consequent  upon  that;  to  make  Jesus  Christ 
known  to  all  the  world.  That  and  that  only 
first  is  our  business  here. 


THE  APPENDIX 

I.    MINUTES  OF  THE  CONVENTION 

The  First  Convention  of  the  Presbyterian 
Brotherhood  as  authorized  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S.  A., 
met  in  Tomlinson  Hall,  Indianapolis,  Indiana, 
on  Wednesday,  14  November,  1906,  at  9 :00  A. 
M. 

The  proceedings  were  conducted  according  to 
the  following  programme  as  arranged  by  the 
Assembly's  committee. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  the  13th  inst,  a  banquet  was  given 
at  The  Dennison  Hotel.  Mr.  Hugh  H.  Hanna  presided. 
The  address  of  welcome  was  made  by  Mr.  Henry  M.  Dowl- 
ing,  president  of  the  Indianapolis  Brotherhood.  The  re- 
sponse was  made  by  Mr.  "William  Lilly,  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 
Addresses  were  made  by  the  Rev.  Charles  William  Gordon, 
of  Winnipeg,  Manitoba,  and  Mr.  James  Macdonald,  of 
Toronto,  Ont. 

Wednesday  Morning 

Mr.  Henry  S.  Osborne,  Chicago,  111.,  presiding. 
9:00.     Devotional  Hour,    The  Rev.  John  E.  Bushnell,  D.D., 

Pastor  Westminster  Church,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 
10:00-12:00.     Addresses  and  Conference. 

The  Presbyterian  Church,  What  It  Stands  For 
The  Rev.  W.  H.  Roberts,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Stated 
Clerk,  General  Assembly,  Philadelphia. 
267 


268  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

The  Boy  and  The  Church 

Mr.  Patterson  DuBois,  Philadelphia. 
The  Man  and  the  Church,      Mr.  Chas.  S.  Holt,  Chicago 
Prayer,  The  Rev.  H.  H.  Gregg,  D.D.,  Pastor  Wash- 
ington and  Compton  Avenue  Church,  St.  Louis. 


Wednesday  Afternoon 

1:30.     Meeting  for  Organization. 

Chairman  of  the  Assembly's  Committee,  Presiding. 
Address,  The  Genesis  of  the  Presbyterian  Brother- 
hood, The  Ohio  Overture 
The  Rev.  B.  B.  Bigger,  Ph.D.,  Massillon,  Ohio. 

a.  The  Assembly's  action  and  the  Committee's  Work. 

b.  The  suggested  Constitution  for  the  Brotherhood. 

c.  Appointment  of  Committees. 

3:00.     Greetings  from  Fraternal  Organizations. 

1.  The  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip 

The  Rev.  W.  H.  Pheley,  M.  D.,  Sec. 

2.  The    Brotherhood    of    the    Presbyterian    Church, 
South,     The  Rev.  A.  L.  Phillips,  D.D.,  Richmond,  Va. 

3.  The  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew 

Mr.  John  Henry  Smale,  Chicago. 

4.  The  United  Presbyterian  Men's  League 

Mr.  McKenzie  Cleland,  Chicago. 

5.  The    Methodist    Episcopal    Brotherhoods    of    St. 
Paul  and  Wesley,  The  Rev.  Bishop  John  H.  Vin- 
cent, D.D.,  LL.D.,  Indianapolis. 

4:00.     Open  Conference  on  Practical  Methods 

President  Dabney,  Presiding. 

Wednesday  Evening. 

7:30.     John  H.  Converse,  LL.D.,  presiding. 

Prayer,  The  Rev.  Hunter  Corbett,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Moder- 
ator of  the  General  Assembly. 
Scriptures,  President  C.  W.  Dabney,  LL.D.,  The  Univer- 
sity of  Cincinnati. 
Address,  The  Hon.  William  Jennings  Bryan. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  269 


Thursday  Morning 

9:00.     Devotional  Service 

Conducted  by  the  Rev.  John  E.  Bushnell,  D.D. 
9:30.     Addresses  and  Conference 

Mr.  H.  C.  Gara,  Philadelphia,  presiding. 
Brotherhood  : 
Its  Need  in  the  Church 

Mr.  Paul  C.  Martin,  Springfield,  0. 
Its  Development  Within  the  Church 

Mr.  Jos.  Ernest  McAfee,  New  York. 
Its  Responsibilities,  Every  Christian  Man  a  Pilot 
The  Rev.  Chas.  W.  Gordon,  D.D.  ("Ralph  Connor"), 
Winnipeg,  Manitoba. 
These  addresses  were  followed  by  open  conferences. 

Thursday  Afternoon 

Business  Session  —  Reports  of  Committees  and  Action 
Thereon,  Mr.  Chas.  S.  Holt,  Chicago,  presiding. 

2:00.     Addresses  and  Conference 

Louis  H.  Severance,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  presiding. 
Service : 

The  Men  of  Our  Church,  and  Their  Minister 

The  Rev.  J.  Ross  Stevenson,  D.D.,  New  York. 
The  Evangelization  of  Our  Countrymen 

The  Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  D.D. 
The  Men  of  Our  Church  and  the  Labor  Interests 

The  Rev.  Chas.  Stelzle,  New  York. 
The  Men  of  Our  Church  and  the  Spiritual  Life 

Mr.  Chas.  G.  Trumbull,  Philadelphia. 
Prayer. 

Thursday  Evening 

7:30.     Mr.  Hugh  H.  Hanna,  presiding. 

Prayer,  The  Rev.  President  Jas.  D.  Moffat,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Washington  and  Jefferson  College. 
Addresses : 

The  Men  of  Our  Church  and  Civil  Affairs 

The  Rev.  Ira  Landrith,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Nashville, 

Tenn.,  Moderator  of  the  last  Assembly 

of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 

Church. 


270  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

The  Men  of  Our  Church  and  Bible  Study. 
The  Rev.  W.  W.  White,  D.D.,  President, 
Winona  Bible  School,  New  York. 
The  Evangelization  of  the  World 

Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  New  York. 


II.      THE  ATTENDANCE  AT   THE   CONVENTION 

The  Assembly's  Committee  decided,  on  ac- 
count of  an  obscurity  in  the  Provisional  Plan  as 
to  the  basis  of  representation  that  all  men  who 
attended  from  Presbyterian  churches  should 
be  enrolled  as  delegates.  The  number  of  those 
who  inscribed  their  names  in  the  book  provided 
by  the  local  committee  was  over  1,000  but  from 
other  data  it  is  evident  that  there  were  present 
at  least  1,250  men  from  outside  of  Indianapo- 
lis. A  more  definite  statement  as  to  this  will  be 
made  in  the  records  of  the  General  Council. 

III.      ANALYSIS   OF    THE   MEMBERS   OF   THE   CONVEN- 
TION BY  OCCUPATION 

Accountant    14  Board  of  H.  Missions..     4 

Abstractor    2  Board   Foreign   Missions    4 

Artisan    11  Board   State   Charities..     1 

Artist    1     Collector    2 

Architect    1     Coal  &  Lime 6 

Auctioneer    1     Civil  Engineer   13 

Banking    53    Cattleman    2 

Broker    5    Carpenter    2 

Business   Man 79  Commercial    Traveler...  27 

Barber   1    Civil    Official 2 

Builder    6    C.  E.  Society 3 

Blacksmith    4    City   Official 2 

Baker    3     Clerk    90 

Buyer    4    College   Pres 5 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION 


271 


College   Prof 9 

Contractor    8 

County    Official 1 

Chemist    2 

Druggist    1 

Dentist    9 

Draughtsman    3 

Dairyman    1 

Expressman    1 

Engineer    2 

Electrician    4 

Electrical   Engineer 1 

Farmer    49 

Florist    2 

Fire  Insurance 6 

Forester    2 

Grocer    13 

Grain   Dealer 2 

Huckster   1 

Hortieulturalist    3 

Hotel   Keeper 2 

Hardware    2 

Insurance,    Gen 10 

Judge    1 

Jeweler    2 

Lumber    16 

Letter  Carrier    9 

Librarian    2 

Lawyer   130 

Life   Insurance 26 

Laborer   3 

Laundryman 2 

Machinist    11 

Miner    1 

Missionary    3 

Medical    Student 4 

Merchant    80 

Manufacturer    62 

Mechanical    Engineer ...  3 

Musician    3 

Minister    284 

Newspaper   Man 19 

Newsboy    2 


Oculist    1 

Optician    2 

Pork   Packer 1 

Policeman    1 

Physician    23 

Printer    10 

Promoter    13 

Plumber    5 

Publisher    11 . 

Painter   5 

Pattern    Maker 1 

Photographer    4 

Real   Estate    40 

Railroad    Man 33 

R.  R.  Mail  Service 5 

Retired    6 

Shoe   Maker 1 

Stenographer    2 

Sign    Painter 1 

Solicitor    1 

Salesman    41 

Surveyor    2 

Saw   Maker 1 

Sailor,  U.  S.  Navy 1 

Supt.    Schools 5 

Student    42 

Sec.  Y.  M.  C.  A 5 

Theo.    Students 4 

Teacher    25 

Telephone    Serv 6 

Telegraphy    4 

Tailor    1 

Tinner    1 

U.  S.  Cen.  Serv 1 

U.   S.   Gov't 4 

U.  S.  Mail 1 

TJ.  S.  Army 1 

Upholsterer    4 

Undertaker    1 

Wall    Paper 3 

Wholesale  Merch 13 

Total    1,476 


272  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    BROTHERHOOD 

At  the  business  session  on  Wednesday  af- 
ternoon the  following  action  was  taken : 

Mr.  Allan  Sutherland  of  Philadelphia  was  ap- 
pointed Secretary. 

The  Rules  of  Order  governing  the  General 
Assembly  were  adopted. 

The  Assembly's  committee,  by  the  chairman, 
presented  the  following  suggested  constitution: 

Article  I.  This  organization,  as  authorized 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  U.  S.  A.,  is  composed  of  all  the  local 
organizations  of  men  in  the  churches  of  our  de- 
nomination, that  declare  their  acceptance  of 
Article  2  of  this  constitution.  (See  foot-note 
below.) 

Article  II.  The  object  of  the  Brotherhood 
shall  be  to  secure  the  organization  of  the  men 
of  our  congregations,  with  a  view  to  spiritual 
development,  fraternal  relations,  denomina- 
tional fealty,  the  strengthening  of  fellowship, 
and  the  engagement  in  the  works  of  Christian 
usefulness. 

Article  III.  The  Brotherhood  shall  hold  a 
convention  annually,  as  provided  for  in  the  plan 
adopted  by  the  General  Assembly,  at  which  time 
there  shall  be  elected  the  General  Council.  The 
convention  shall  concert  measures  for  the  gen- 
eral welfare  of  the  Brotherhood. 

Note.  It  is  definitely  declared  that  no  specific  type  of 
local  organization  is  required;  each  one  is  left  absolutely 
free  to  formulate  its  own  constitution  and  prosecute  its 
own  methods  of  work. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  273 

Aeticle  IV.  The  General  Council  shall  con- 
sist of  twenty-one  members,  to  be  divided  into 
three  classes,  one  class  of  seven  to  be  elected 
each  year.  Those  chosen  at  the  first  convention 
shall  arrange  themselves  into  three  classes  by 
whatever  plan  the  Council  may  determine,  to 
serve  one,  two,  and  thre  years.  The  quorum 
of  the  General  Council  shall  be  ten. 

Article  V.  The  powers  of  the  General  Coun- 
cil shall  be: 

1.  To  promote  and  assist  the  organizations 
of  men  in  all  our  congregations. 

2.  To  arrange  for  the  annual  conventions. 

3.  To  aid  in  the  holding  of  presbyterial  and 
synodical  conventions. 

4.  To  employ  such  executive  officers  as  may 
be  necessary  and  to  fix  their  salaries. 

5.  To  secure,  by  voluntary  subscriptions,  the 
funds  necessary  to  carry  out  the  work,  but  no 
assessments  or  per  capita  tax  is  to  be  levied  on 
any  local  organization  or  its  membership. 

6.  To  elect  such  officers  and  sub-committees 
as  may  be  found  necessary  and  adopt  rules  for 
their  guidance. 

7.  To  secure  articles  of  incorporation,  when 
in  the  judgment  of  the  council,  it  is  expedient 
to  do  so. 

8.  To  choose  an  Executive  Committee  of 
seven  to  whom  shall  be  entrusted  such  matters 
as  may  be  so  referred  by  action  of  the  General 
Council.  Five  members  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee shall  be  necessary  to  constitute  a  quo- 

18 


274  THE  PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

rum.  This  committee  shall  elect  its  own  of- 
ficers and  adopt  rules  for  their  guidance.  It 
shall  meet  the  call  of  the  chairman  on  due  no- 
tice. 

9.  To  appoint  fraternal  delegates  to  corre- 
sponding bodies. 

Article  VI.  The  General  Council  shall  meet 
at  least  twice  a  year ;  at  the  time  of  the  conven- 
tion and  at  a  date  at  least  three  months  before 
the  following  convention. 

Article  VII.  The  Brotherhood  and  all  its 
affiliated  local  organizations  are  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  General  Assembly  as  provided  for  in 
Chapter  xxiii  of  the  Form  of  Government. 

Article  VIII.  This  constitution  may  be 
amended  at  any  annual  convention  provided  no- 
tice of  the  proposed  amendment  is  given  to  the 
General  Council  through  the  chairman  prior  to 
the  meeting  immediately  preceding  the  conven- 
tion. A  two-thirds  vote  shall  be  necessary  to 
pass  an  amendment. 

The  following  committees  were  appointed  to 
report  on  Thursday  afternoon,  viz: 

Constitution: — Harry  C.  Olin,  Chairman; 
T.  H.  Gray;  Chas.  Eeid;  J.  H.  Perrin;  Ledyard 
Cogswell ;  Clayton  E.  Crafts ;  W.  R.  Farrand. 

Business: — J.  H.  Jefferis,  Chairman;  E.  A. 
B.  Ward;  Thomas  A.  Hall;  James  J.  Parks; 
R.  M.  Todd ;  J.  W.  Brown ;  W.  B.  Harris ;  Dr. 
J.  C.  Fisher;  Wm.  Moore;  A.  H.  Frederick; 
Ed.  Treat. 

Nominations: — H.  C.  Gara,  Chairman;  T.  B. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  275 

Cobbs;  Nolan  E.  Best;  E.  P.  Hargitt;  H.  L. 
Smith;  E.  H.  Harned;  E.  D.  Cone;  Jas.  H. 
Gray ;  J.  D.  Husted ;  John  H.  Dewitt ;  Mr.  Shep- 
herd. 

Ten  delegates  from  the  Southern  Presbyter- 
ian Church  were  welcomed  and  seated  as  dele- 
gates. The  Eev.  A.  L.  Phillips,  D.D.,  of  Eich- 
mond,  Va.,  responded  on  behalf  of  the  dele- 
gates. 

The  chairmen  of  the  various  committees  were 
authorized  to  fill  any  vacancies  that  might  oc- 
cur. 

The  Eev.  S.  Edward  Young  of  Pittsburgh, 
reported  the  following  as  having  been  adopted 
by  the  Assembly's  committee. 

Resolved,  That  we  express  to  the  session 
and  congregation  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  our  appreciation 
of  the  services  of  their  pastor,  the  Eev.  John 
Clark  Hill,  D.D.,  as  chairman  of  this  committee. 

Dr.  Hill  has  most  efficiently  forwarded  the 
cause  of  the  Presbyterian  Brotherhood.  To  his 
ability  and  consecration  is  due  in  no  small  meas- 
ure the  present  success  of  this  effort  to  organ- 
ize Presbyterian  men.  We  believe  the  First 
Church  may  take  reasonable  pride  in  their  con- 
tribution through  their  pastor  to  this  historic 
movement. 

The  action  was  adopted  unanimously  by  the 
convention.  The  secretary  was  instructed  to 
forward  a  copy  of  this  resolution  to  the  clerk 


276  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

of  the  session  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Spring-field,  Ohio. 

It  was  ordered  moved  that  the  details  of 
changes  in  the  program  be  left  in  the  hands  of 
Dr.  Hill. 

The  constitution  suggested  by  the  Assembly's 
committee  together  with  all  proposed  changes 
was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Constitu- 
tion. 

It  was  ordered  that  all  recommendations  be 
submitted  to  the  various  committees  and  that 
each  recommendation  contain  two  signers. 

The  following  telegrams  of  greeting  were  re- 
ceived, viz: 

New  York,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  14,  1906. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Presbyterian  Brotherhood 
Convention,    Tomlinson    Hall,    Indianapolis, 
Ind.: 

The  St.  Paul  and  Wesley  Brotherhood  (the 
Brotherhoods  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church)  to  the  Presbyterian  Brotherhood; 
greetings  and  propitious  auguries,  Matthew 
four,  nineteen,  "Come  ye  after  me,  and  I  will 
make  you  fishers  of  men." 

W.  Patterson,  Secretary, 
W.  D.  Bridge,  Asst.  Sec't. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  14,  1906. 
To   the    Chairman   Presbyterian   Brotherhood 
Convention,  Indianapolis,  Ind.: 
Most  cordial  greetings  and  sympathetic  in- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  277 

terest  in  your  council  from  the  Presbyterian 
Social  Union  of  Brooklyn,  at  its  first  meeting. 
H.  K.  Twitchell,  Secy. 

The  Secretary  was  instructed  to  send  suita- 
ble replies. 


THURSDAY,  15th  NOV. 

The  convention  was  called  to  order  at  2:20 
P.  M.  Chas.  S.  Holt,  presiding. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Constitution 
was  presented  by  the  chairman,  Mr.  H.  C.  Olin 
and  adopted  as  follows : 

I.  That  the  General  Assembly's  committee 
continue  in  charge  of  this  convention  until  its 
adjournment. 

II.  That  the  nominating  committee  be  re- 
quested to  present  to  the  Convention  the  names 
of  twenty-one  men  who  shalli  constitute  the 
General  Council  of  the  Brotherhood  as  sug- 
gested in  the  constitution  submitted  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly's  committee;  that  this  Council 
shall  elect  its  own  officers,  and  to  it  shall  be 
referred  the  proposed  constitution  and  all 
amendments  submitted;  that  this  Council  shall 
be  commissioned  with  full  power  to  adopt  a 
constitution  and  to  report  the  same  at  its 
earliest  convenience  to  the  General  Assembly's 
committee  and  to  the  churches  through  the 
church  papers  and  in  such  other  ways  as  it  may 
seem  expedient,  with  the  understanding  that 


278  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

changes  in  said  constitution  may  be  made  at  the 
next  national  convention. 

III.  That  this  Council  shall  designate  the  time 
and  place  for  the  next  national  convention,  shall 
determine  the  basis  of  representation  in  the 
same,  and  shall  arrange  all  preliminary  details 
for  holding  it. 

IV.  That,  pending  the  adoption  of  the  consti- 
tution by  the  Council,  the  churches  be  urged 
to  proceed  at  once  to  the  organization  of  men's 
societies  under  the  control  of  the  General  As- 
sembly as  provided  for  in  Chapter  23  of  the 
Form  of  Government. 

The  Committee  on  Nominations,  by  its  chair- 
man, Mr.  H.  C.  Gara,  presented  the  following 
report  which  was  adopted : 

In  accordance  with  the  action  of  the  report 
of  the  Committee  on  Constitution,  we  recom- 
mend the  following  General  Council  of  twenty- 
one  members:  Hugh  H.  Hanna,  Indianapolis; 
C.  T.  Thompson,  Minneapolis;  Chas.  W.  Dab- 
ney,  Cincinnati;  John  H.  Converse,  Philadel- 
phia ;  W.  E.  Settle,  Bowling  Green,  Ky. ;  John 
Willis  Baer,  Los  Angeles;  Frederick  A.  Wallis, 
New  York  City;  E.  M.  Treat,  St.  Louis;  Jo- 
seph Ailing,  Eochester,  N.  Y.;  J.  D.  Husted, 
Denver;  Chas.  S.  Holt,  Chicago;  Ralph  W. 
Harbison,  Pittsburgh;  A.  E.  Turner,  Waxa- 
hachie,  Tex.;  A.  B.  T.  Moore,  Cedar  Rapids, 
Iowa;  W.  R.  Farrand,  Detroit;  A.  R.  Taylor, 
Decatur,  111. ;  W.  M.  Ladd,  Portland,  Oreg. ;  J. 
L.  Severance,  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Cyrus  H.  Mc- 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  279 

Cormick,  Chicago;  Franklin  W.  Ganse,  Boston; 
Elisha  Perkins,  Baltimore. 

It  was  ordered  that  any  vacancies  be  filled 
by  the  General  Council. 

The  following  resolution  was  presented  from 
the  business  committee,  Mr.  J.  H.  JefTeris, 
Chairman,  and  adopted: 

Resolved:  Believing  the  vitality  of  the 
movement  undertaken  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  to  promote  the  religious  activity  of 
Christian  men,  depends  upon  the  vigor  and 
abundance  of  volunteer  service  enlisted  in  it, 
and  rejoicing  in  the  extraordinary  success  so 
far  attained  by  volunteer  service  alone,  this  con- 
vention expresses  the  conviction  that  for  the 
earlier  period  of  the  movement  no  salaries 
should  be  paid,  at  least  for  the  first  year,  ex- 
cept for  such  clerical  work  as  may  be  necessary 
in  a  central  office  of  correspondence  and  infor- 
mation, unless  in  the  opinion  of  the  General 
Council  the  welfare  of  the  Brotherhood  should 
demand  otherwise. 

At  the  close  of  the  Eev.  Charles  Stelzle  's  ad- 
dress the  following  resolution  was  adopted : 

Resolved:  That  we,  The  Presbyterian 
Brotherhood,  composed  of  men  of  all  vocations, 
do  hereby  place  ourselves  on  record  as  being 
in  Christian  sympathy  with  the  workingmen 
of  our  nation;  that  we  bid  our  Board  of  Home 
Missions  God  speed  in  the  work  of  bringing 
about  a  closer  union  between  the  church  and 
labor. 


280  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

A  committee  of  three  was  appointed  by  the 
chairman,  to  draft  a  resolution  to  be  forwarded 
to  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  Conven- 
tion, at  Minneapolis,  the  same  to  be  presented 
by  the  Eev.  Mr.  Stelzle. 

The  following  was   presented  and  adopted: 

Resolved:  That  the  Presbyterian  Broth- 
erhood, in  its  first  convention  at  Indianapolis, 
joins  with  the  Brotherhood  of  Labor,  as  repre- 
sented in  the  American  Federation  of  Labor, 
in  convention  assembled  at  Minneapolis  in  de- 
votion to  the  ideal  of  life  given  by  the  Great 
Master.  "If  any  would  be  great  among  you, 
let  him  be  your  servant.  For  even  the  Son  of 
man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister." 

The  Business  Committee  presented  and 
recommended  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolutions  which  were  adopted: 

Whereas,  Many  local  societies  have  sent 
delegates  with  regular  credentials,  and  it  is  de- 
sirable that  the  action  of  such  societies  be 
recognized  in  view  of  the  historic  character  of 
this  meeting,  therefore, 

Resolved:  That  all  delegates  having  such 
formal  written  credentials  be  directed  to  de- 
posit same  with  the  secretary  of  this  conven- 
tion and  that  a  roll  of  such  societies  be  made 
that  the  action  of  these  societies  may  receive 
proper  recognition  and  record. 

The  men  here  assembled  appreciating  the 
splendid  and  unselfish  work  of  the  committee 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  281 

of  the  General  Assembly  of  our  church  which 
has  culminated  in  the  launching  of  this  move- 
ment in  behalf  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Presby- 
terian men,  hereby  record  approval  of  their 
work  and  express  thanks  for  their  faithful  de- 
votion. 

Though  the  Local  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments had  many  new,  uncertain,  and  difficult 
propositions  to  meet,  yet  they  have  surmounted 
them  with  such  patience,  ability,  and  Christian 
hospitality  that  we  feel  ourselves  under  pro- 
found obligations  to  them  and  hereby  tender 
them  our  sincere  thanks  with  the  hope  and 
prayer  that  God's  face  will  continue  to  shine 
upon  them  and  give  them  peace. 

This  convention  hereby  tenders  its  thanks 
to  the  press  of  the  city  for  the  full  reports,  and 
to  the  many  distinguished  gentlemen  who  have 
so  ably  addressed  this  convention. 

The  sessions  were  closed  with  prayer  and 
the  apostolic  benediction. 

Attest :  Allan  Sutherland,  Sec. 

John  Clark  Hill,  Chairman. 

TV.      THE    CONVENTION   BUTTON 

"Was  designed  by  the  Rev.  Henry  C.  McCook, 
D.D.,  Devon,  Pa.  The  device  is  that  of  the 
ancient  seal  of  our  church  made  in  the  18th  cen- 
tury, before  any  divisions  had  occurred.  It  is 
now  on  the  seal  of  the  trustees  of  our  General 
Assembly.     The  motto  is   Christus  Exaltatus 


282  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

Salvator, — An  Uplifted  Christ  our  Saviour; 
the  device  represents  Christ's  reference  to  his 
sacrificial  and  saving  death  in  John  3:14. 


V.      THE    ASSEMBLY'S    COMMITTEE    ON    MEN'S 
SOCIETIES 

Kev.  John  Clark  Hill,  D.D.,  Springfield,  Ohio, 

Chairman. 
Mr.  Dwight  H.  Day,  156  Fifth  Av.,  New  York, 

Treas. 
Eev.  John  Balcom  Shaw,  D.D.,  Michigan  Av. 

&  20th  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
Eev.  S.  Edward  Young,  D.D.,  5  Colonial  Place, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. 
Eev.  Alfred  H.  Barr,  567  Congress  St.,  Detroit, 

Mich. 
Eev.   DeWitt  M.   Benham,   Ph.D.,   The   Cecil, 

Baltimore,  Md. 
Mr.  William  T.  Ellis,  Wyncote,  Pa. 
Mr.   Andrew    Stevenson,    950   First   National 

Bank  Building,  Chicago,  111. 
Mr.  Chas.  T.  Thompson,  36  Loan  &  Trust  Bldg., 

Minneapolis,  Minn. 
Mr.  Jas.  M.  Patterson,  707  Pine  St.,  St.  Louis, 

Mo. 

LOCAL   COMMITTEES 

Eev.  Owen  D.  Odell,  Chairman. 
Eev.  Frank  0.  Ballard,  D.D.,  Chairman  Com- 
mittee on  Entertainment. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  283 


VI.      SAMPLE   CONSTITUTIONS 

No.  1. 

I.  The  name  of  this  organization  is,  The 

Brotherhood  of  the Church 

of 

II.  The  object  of  the  Brotherhood  is  to  pro- 
mote spiritual  development,  fraternal  relations, 
denominational  fealty,  the  strengthening  of  fel- 
lowship, and  the  engagement  in  works  of  Chris- 
tian usefulness  by  the  men  of  the  congregation 
in  connection  with  the  Presbyterian  Brother- 
hood authorized  by  the  General  Assembly, 
1906. 

III.  Membership:  Every  male  member  of 
this  church,  and  those  who  are  attendants  on 
its  services,  from  sixteen  years  and  upwards, 
may  become  members  on  the  payment  of  an 
initiation  fee  of  fifty  cents  and  the  annual  pay- 
ment, in  advance,  of  a  like  sum,  for  incidental 
expenses. 

IV.  The  Session  shall  have  a  supervisory 
jurisdiction  over  the  work  of  the  Brotherhood. 

V.  Regular  Meetings  shall  be  held  on 

All  regular  meetings  to  be  opened  with  devo- 
tional exercises. 

The  order  of  business  at  regular  meetings 
shall  be,  1,  Call  to  order;  2,  Devotional  Exer- 
cises; 3,  Minutes;  4,  Reports;  5,  Unfinished 
business;  6,  New  business;  7,  The  Program;  8, 
Adjournment. 

VI.  Sec.  1.    The  regular  committees  shall 


284  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

be,  1,  Executive,  the  chairman,  secretary,  and 
treasurer,  being  elected  by  the  Brotherhood, 
these  three  to  appoint  all  the  other  committees, 
the  chairmen  of  which  shall  be  members  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  all  of  whom  shall  hold 
office  for  one  year  or  until  their  successors  are 
chosen. 

Sec.  2.  The  additional  regular  committees 
shall  be :  2,  Program ;  3,  Reception,  and,  4,  De- 
votional. 

Sec.  3.  Special  committees  may  be  ap- 
pointed and  duties  defined  by  the  Executive 
Committee. 

Sec.  4.  The  pastor  shall  be,  ex-officio,  a 
member  of  all  committees. 

Sec.  5.  The  Executive  Committee  shall  out- 
line the  work  of  the  Brotherhood  for  the  year ; 
shall  have  control  of  the  funds;  approve  and 
authorize  the  payment  of  all  bills;  no  expense 
to  be  incurred  without  the  sanction  of  this  com- 
mittee. 

Sec.  6.  The  Program  Committee  shall  have 
charge  of  the  program  for  the  monthly  meet- 
ings, shall  provide  speakers,  music  and  refresh- 
ments, in  accordance  with  the  general  policy  as 
outlined  by  the  Executive  Committee. 

Sec.  7.  The  Reception  Committee  shall  act 
as  ushers  at  the  meetings,  welcome  and  intro- 
duce strangers. 

Sec.  8.  The  Devotional  Committee  shall  be 
concerned  with  the  development  of  things 
which  tend  to  broaden,  widen,  and  deepen  spir- 


INDIANAPOLIS   CONVENTION  285 

itual  power  among  men,  especially  in  connec- 
tion with  organized  activities,  to  take  charge 
of  the  devotional  exercises  at  regular  meetings, 
and  secure  the  enrollment  of  men  in  the 
Brotherhood  Bible  class. 

VII.  This  constitution  may  be  amended,  or 
added  to  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  members 
present  at  any  regular  meeting. 

No.  2. 

Aeticle  I.  This  organization  shall  be  known 
as  The of  the Church. 

Article  II.  The  object  of  this  organization 
shall  be  to  promote  spiritual  development,  fra- 
ternal relations,  denominational  fealty,  the 
strengthening  of  fellowship,  and  the  engage- 
ment in  works  of  Christian  usefulness  on  the 
part  of  the  men  of  the  congregation,  as  an  or- 
ganization affiliated  with  the  Presbyterian 
Brotherhood,  authorized  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly, 1906. 

Article  III.  All  male  members  of  this 
church,  or  male  members  of  any  evangelical 
church  who  are  members  of  this  congregation, 
shall  be  eligible  to  membership.  Also  all  male 
members  of  the  congregation  not  members  of 
the  church  but  who  are  actively  cooperating  in 
the  general  work  of  the  church  shall  be  eligible 
to  associate  membership.  They  shall  be  ad- 
mitted by  an  affirmative  vote,  on  recommenda- 
tion of  the  Membership  Committee.  An  appli- 
cation for  membership  shall  be  considered  also 
a  pledge  of  service. 


286  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BROTHERHOOD 

Article  IV.  The  officers  shall  be  a  presi- 
dent, vice  president,  secretary,  and  treasurer. 
The  officers  shall  be  elected  by  ballot  at  the  reg- 
ular meeting  in  ..,....,  and  shall  hold  their  of- 
fice for  one  year.  The  pastor  shall  be  ex-officio 
a  member  of  each  committee. 

Article  V.  In  accordance  with  Presby- 
terian polity,  the  session  shall  have  general  su- 
pervisory jurisdiction. 

Article  VI.  The  definite  purpose  of  the  or- 
ganization is  to  bring  men  to  Christ  and  to  the 
activities  of  the  Christian  life.  This  purpose 
shall  be  prosecuted  through  the  work  of  the 
following  committees : 

1.  Executive  Committee.  Composed  of  the 
officers  and  chairmen  of  the  several  commit- 
tees, to  have  general  direction. 

2.  Membership  Committee.  To  secure  new 
members  and  to  encourage  the  fidelity  and  use- 
fulness of  all  members. 

3.  Committee  of  Inside  Work.  To  have  spe- 
cial responsibility  for  work  done  in  connection 
with  meetings  in  the  church,  and  specifically: 

(a)  To  welcome  strangers  and  occasional  at- 
tendants; to  introduce  them  to  members  and 
the  pastor ;  to  cultivate  the  spirit  of  fellowship 
among  the  men  of  the  church  and  congrega- 
tion. 

(b)  To  stimulate  the  interest  of  men  in  all 
the  church  services ;  to  prepare,  under  the  pas- 
tor's  approval,  musical  or  other  programs,  espe- 
cially for  the  Sunday  evening  service. 


INDIANAPOLIS    CONVENTION  287 

(c)  To  provide  such  social  meetings  as  shall 
be  for  the  best  interest  of  the  men  of  the  con- 
gregation. 

(d)  To  hold  religious  meetings  for  men,  and 
through  these  and  other  proper  means  bring 
the  gospel  invitation  and  Christian  obligation 
to  men  individually. 

(e)  To  inform  and  interest  the  men  of  the 
congregation  in  its  missionary  and  benevolent 
operations. 

4.  Committee  of  Outside  Work.  To  have 
special  responsibility  for  work  to  be  done  out- 
side the  church,  and  specifically: 

(a)  To  invite  strangers  and  non-church 
goers  to  the  services  of  this  church;  to  secure 
regularity  of  attendance  by  the  men  of  the  con- 
gregation who  are  irregular  or  indifferent. 

(b)  To  use  all  proper  means  to  advertise 
the  work  and  services  of  the  church. 

(c)  To  visit  strangers  and  the  sick,  and  re- 
port all  such  cases  to  the  pastor  and  Executive 
Committee. 

5.  Finance  Committee.  To  provide  the  funds 
necessary  for  the  work.  The  treasurer  shall 
be  chairman. 

Article  VII.  The  regular  meetings  shall  be 
held  on 

Article  VIII.  This  constitution  may  be 
amended  by  a  majority  vote  at  any  regular 
meeting,  providing  notice  of  such  amendment 
has  been  given  at  least  one  regular  meeting  in 
advance. 


Pnnceton  Theological  S«m.nanr-Sp*er  L'f.ranf 


1012  01094  8588 


DATE  DUE 

. 

U1M  1 

S  \994 

JUn  J 

%rvfvC 

w» 

■ 

I 

rfiiit   i 

f     lOftjf 

JUN  1 

5  1996 

- 

DEMCO  38-25 

)7 

